Anya of Archenland: The Whole Saga
by SuspianFeels
Summary: The complete story of Anya's adventures in Archenland, Narnia and Aslan's Country. Story order: THE LION'S ROAR, THEIR LAST HOPE, LAST FIRST LOVE, FOREVER STARTS NOW, THEIR COMMANDING QUEEN. Plus an exclusive Q&A with the author, playlist, introduction and timeline.
1. Introduction

The saga of Anya's adventures takes place over 700 years of her life, from the start of her banishment from Aslan's Country to her return after the final battle of Narnia. Along those 700 years, she's gone from the forsaken daughter of Aslan to a criminal to a commander and finally a queen. Throughout all the transformations, the character of Anya has always been certain of what she wanted and what she needed, surviving and eventually triumphing against all odds.

OFFICIAL CAST;

Marie Avgeropoulos as Anya

William Moseley as Peter

Ben Barnes as Caspian

Anna Popplewell as Susan

Georgie Henley as Lucy

Skandar Keynes as Edmund

Liam Neeson as Aslan

Rami Malek as Tirian

Chloe Moretz as Jill

Will Poulter as Eustace

Bob Morley as Bowyar

Drew Roy as Shylton

Margot Robbie as Pygott

Jane Levy as Fysher

Craig Parker as Selwyn

Logan Lerman as Tabard

Olivia Cooke as Lovell

Monique Ganderton as Carew, Anya's mother

Dev Patel as Brocas

Ricky Whittle as Gustus

Shiloh Fernandez as Ailemer


	2. The Lion's Roar

Morning fell across the land of Narnia as the golden sun warmed the woods and fields. The sun shone down on Anya's face, waking her up within moments. She opened her bright blue eyes and slowly stood up from her resting place on the forest floor, her hair acting as her pillow due to how long it was. It fell down to her ankles, being far too long for her to really do anything with. It was nice to have back in Aslan's Country but now that she was in Narnia, it did nothing but get in the way of her walking around by getting caught in tree branches or have the wind blow it into her face to stop her from seeing clearly.

Anya's once clean dark green dress was ripped and coated in dirt, and she knew that she needed to change but she didn't know where she would be able to get new clothes. Along with her impractical clothes and hair, Anya was starting to get blisters all over her feet from walking around Narnia for so long.

She had no idea where she was and she hadn't encountered anyone since her arrival several weeks before hand. She knew that if she didn't see anyone soon, she would probably die from starvation or go insane from isolation. She was walking – which was more staggering like a drunken man would do on his way home from the pub – through the quiet forest, holding onto the tree trunks to keep her up.

After around an hour of walking, Anya collapsed to her knees and eventually her whole body collapsed to the ground, finally giving in to both starvation and how weak and tired she truly was. Her eyes closed and she finally embraced her probable and inevitable death.

 **~#~**

She awoke several hours later, just as the sun was starting to set on the horizon. The warmth of a small fire hit her face, and then the distinct smell of wood smoke filled her senses. She slowly sat up, just as a small bowl of broth and a slice of bread was placed in her lap with a tin filled with water was placed beside her legs.

"You need to eat and drink, you'll feel better." A voice told her, a dark figure sitting beside her. They had a dark leather cloak on and a hood up so Anya couldn't see their face but she could tell that they were tall and had travelled for miles due to how dirty their cloak was.

After a few moments, they took their hood off and finally revealed a man who couldn't be a few years older than Anya. His dark hair and dark eyes made Anya's heart skip a beat inside her chest; she blushed and quickly went to her food, devouring it within seconds. After finishing, she moved closer to him and finally spoke. "Who are you?" her voice was dry and hoarse, she hadn't spoken for days and hearing her real voice was somewhat of a surprise. The only times she had heard her voice, was her inside voice which didn't sound like her actual voice at all.

"My name is Shylton. I was sent here to find the fallen star." Shylton took away the now empty bowl and placed it into his leather satchel before turning his attention back to Anya, his eyes fixing upon her face.

Anya moved away from Shylton a little, keeping the tin can filled with water in her hands. "Well, there's no fallen star here, Shylton. So it seems you must keep searching."

"But you are different – you are not from the ground."

"How can you tell?" Anya almost dropped her can as soon as she heard Shylton tell her that she wasn't from the ground; it wasn't obvious to her at least. She didn't have a sign that said "hey, I'm from Aslan's Country, come and get it".

"Your eyes, they tell me more than your mouth ever will. I can tell you are from the skies."

"Is that a bad thing? To come from the skies, I mean."

"Not necessarily. It just means you are not experienced enough to survive here without someone guarding or guiding you. It's a miracle you're still alive after all this time I have been searching for the star. If I hadn't found you when I did, you would've been dead by tomorrow."

Anya was quiet for a while, just taking in what Shylton had told her and the state she was in before he found her. She would've died if he hadn't found her and given her food. "Thank you, Shylton. You saved my life."

"You are welcome, sky girl. Do you have a name?"

"Anya, my name is Anya."

"Well, the one they call Anya, welcome to Narnia."

 **~#~**

It was just before sunrise when Anya felt someone shaking her and bringing her back into reality from her dreaming state, but her eyes were still closed as she tried to bring herself back into the dream world she left. When she didn't fully wake up, a small tin of cold water was poured over her head, igniting a slight scream from her as she sat up in a heartbeat. Her eyes flashed open, wiping away some of the water as she glared at the culprit. "Did you have to do that?"

Shylton laughed, placing the new empty tin back into his satchel before stating to walk into the distance. "Yes I did, now get up. We've got a lot of ground to cover before nightfall."

Anya rolled her eyes, standing up before ringing out her clothes and hair, watching the water drip onto her hands and the ground beneath her feet. "Do I always get that _lovely_ wakeup call?" She raised an eyebrow as she quickly followed after Shylton.

Shylton chuckled, slowing down his pace so Anya could catch up to him. "Only if you don't get up when I ask you to; lesson number one, always do what I tell you to first time."

Anya's eyes narrowed once she caught up with Shylton, before speaking. "Have we just turned this trek to Archenland into a fucking how-to book?"

"Lesson number two; no questioning of what I teach you."

The pair continued squabbling for hours and miles onwards, Anya never letting up her fight against Shylton's rules and instead finding more and more ways to get on his nerves by asking him extremely inappropriate questions, receiving a slight shove at one of them. And Anya – being Anya – decided to shove him back; which ended up with both of them rolling down a hill and into a puddle of mud.

The pair looked at each other; their eyes narrowing as they stood back up and walked out of the mud, wiping some of it off their faces and hands. "I blame you for this, Anya." Shylton muttered under his breath, picking some dried mud off his arm.

"You started it! You told me to follow you and I was following your example. Can't blame me for learning, mister." Anya protested, her teeth clenching together after speaking.

"Yes I can, and I am. Deal with it, _child_."

"Don't you 'child' me! I'm twelve, I'm not a toddler."

"I will 'child' you, Anya. Now shut up and keep walking."

The pair walked in silence for some hours, Anya focused on the ground and their feet as Shylton focused on which way they needed to go. "Why do you even want me? I mean, fallen stars aren't exactly useful for anything. Even me, since I'm not really a fallen star, but still." She finally asked; her gaze moving up to the back of Shylton's head.

"My commander demanded you; he said you'd be of great importance to him." Shylton replied, simply. His shoulders shrugging as he looked back at Anya for a moment before focusing back on the path before him once more.

"Did he say why?" Anya frowned, jumping around a few puddles and dodging some fallen branches as she walked.

"No, but you can guess he wants you for his own personal pleasure."

"Can't you tell him that I don't approve of this and then he'd let me go?"

"Nobody says no to Selwyn."

"Well, there's always a first."

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you?"

"I'm glad you noticed."

The pair continued to walk in silence after that, both feeling satisfied with that they've said. By the time both stopped for dinner and rest, they'd covered a lot of ground but they still had a long way to go. As they ate, Shylton couldn't help but notice how long Anya's hair was and how much it was obviously annoying her while she was walking. After they finished eating, Shylton went through his satchel and brought out a pair of large and slightly rusted scissors, gently pushing Anya's shoulders down to kneel in front of him. He slowly started to cut Anya's long hair chunk by chunk until her hair that previously reached her ankles, now reached just below her shoulders which made walking around a lot easier for both her and Shylton. He also did the same to Anya's dress, cutting it just above her knees just to stop her complaining of her dress getting caught in branches and tripping her up while they walked.

 **~#~**

Several days later, the pair finally arrived at Archenland's borders and were ready to finally say goodbye to Narnia. Both of them were mentally and physically exhausted from their almost two week long trek and ready to get back to civilization with fresh meals and a comfortable place to sleep instead of the hard ground, covered in stones.

Both of them arrived at the tall wooden gates that separated them from the village of Adrigonia – where Shylton was due to bring Anya to. One of the guards quickly noticed them, his bow and arrow aiming at the pair of them. "Chon yu bilaik?" **(Who are you?)** He demanded.

Anya took a step forward, showing little to no fear. "Ai laik Onya kom Skai en ai gaf gouthru klir." **(I am Anya of the skies and I seek safe passage.)**

The guard inspected both of them once more before nodding his head and the large gates opened, allowing both Anya and Shylton inside the village. As they walked through the village, people started walking out of their tents, egger to see the new arrivals. Anya gave Shylton a slight glace and held onto his hand tightly as they walked through the now crowds of people that surrounded them.

Anya and Shylton were quickly escorted into a huge stone castle, the heavy doors closed behind them to keep out everyone else. A servant grabbed Anya's hand, pushing Shylton aside before dragging Anya away from the main lobby before she had a chance to protest or even call back to Shylton for help.

She was then pushed into a large hall with the doors closing behind her, her fingers laced together as she slowly walked towards the two thrones that sat proudly at the opposite end of the hall. On one was sat a man who was obviously older than Anya with a large golden sword beside him – whom she guessed was the commander, while the other throne was empty. Which puzzled her slightly but she decided to not question it.

She stopped a few meters away from the thrones, giving the commander a low curtsy out of respect as she was taught to do back home. Once she rose, her eyes locked with the commander's. She was nervous, yes, but she wasn't about to let him know that anytime soon. "I believe you sent for me, commander."

"Ah, yes. You're the fallen star I requested. Somehow, I imagined you to be a lot prettier. But never mind that now; you'll be a fine woman to sit beside me on your own throne and be my wife." The commander answered, simply, his gaze moving between Anya's face and body to the gold ring that sat on his finger.

"Do you know who I am?" Anya shouted; her eyes narrowing as she glared at the commander. The only word to describe how Anya was feeling was disgust; disgusted at the fact that the commander only wanted her as a slave for his own personal pleasures. It was a waste of an almost two week journey to go to Archenland for this.

"Do you know who _I_ am?" The commander smirked in his chair, enjoying the look of anger on Anya.

"No, this is not a game of 'who the fuck are you?' I am Anya; daughter of Aslan, princess of the skies and I will not bow down to you."

"Anya of the skies, this isn't a choice. You _will_ bow down to me."

Anya narrowed her eyes, folding her arms over her chest as she took a step towards the commander. "Make me, Selwyn of the ground."

The room fell silent after Anya spoke those words, the commander taken aback for a moment before coming back to his senses and clapping his hands once, the sound of his skin against skin echoing throughout the room before a servant opened the door to answer his request. "Take Princess Anya to a guest chamber, make sure she has a bath and clean clothes. Prepare her for tonight's feast."

The servant bowed, taking Anya's arm and leading her out of the hall and towards a flight of stairs and up towards one of the guests' chambers. She was told that a bath would be run for her and she was welcome to use the room as she wished, since it would be hers until she married the commander.

Once her bath was run, Anya was left alone to bathe. She slowly removed her mud and sweat drenched clothes, letting them pool on the floor before she climbed into the hot bath, instantly feeling the warmth go all the way through her body.

Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath before she submerged herself under the water, the mud instantly washing itself off her hair and drifted around her shoulders and her face. She stayed submerged for a few moments before she came back up for air, wiping the water away from her face.

She didn't come out of the bath until her skin started pruning up, wrapping her body in a towel before sitting down on a chair in front of the roaring fire before her for warmth. Soon enough, she heard a knock on the door followed by a young woman entering, her blonde hair tied into multiple different braids in her hair, something Anya deeply envied almost immediately. "My name is Fysher, Commander Selwyn sent me here to give you new clothes since he thought your clothes might be impractical for living here."

A small smile came onto Anya's lips as she took the pile of clothes from Fysher, giving her a slight nod. "Once I have changed, could you teach me how to do hair like yours?"

Fysher mirrored Anya's smile, nodding her head. "Of course."

 **~#~**

By the time the feast came around, Anya was ready to leave and go to bed but she still had to wait until Selwyn allowed her to leave. She had to force herself to keep her eyes open, even when that seemed like an impossible task as every time she blinked; it felt like she was slowly slipping into a deep sleep. She had to pinch herself to stay awake as she watched everyone around her get drunk and kiss the nearest person, something that never happened back in Aslan's Country. She'd been to many feasts with welcoming atmospheres, but this had the atmosphere of a brothel than a welcoming atmosphere.

Just as Anya was about to throw her goblet of untouched wine away and finally go to bed, she felt a hand hold her arm followed by slight pulling and eventually lead to Anya's back colliding with someone's chest. "Where do you think you're going, _Anya_?" The familiar voice of Selwyn made Anya's skin crawl and a chill go down her spine.

"Bed," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I'm tired from walking, I think you can understand." She forced her arm out of his grip, her arms wrapping around herself.

Selwyn moved in front of Anya, his hands placed on her arms. "Sweetheart, I have a private home built just for us. It'll be much quieter than sleeping in the quarters here, I assure you."

As much as Anya hated Selwyn's pet name for her, she couldn't help but be somewhat thankful that he had a private home where she could rest in peace without any interruption. She slowly nodded, allowing Selwyn to place an arm around her waist and lead her out of the feast.

The pair walked into the dark night, the moon and a lantern held by Selwyn to guide their way. As they walked together, they talked to each other about many things; Selwyn was curious of the fallen star and how she came to be a fallen star while Anya was curious about the commander of a land so far away from what she called home.

The house was dark when they arrived, Selwyn only lighting the way up to the bedroom, not that Anya minded of course. She kicked off her shoes as she looked at the large king sized bed in the middle of the room. She placed a few fingers along the sheets, a small smile coming onto her lips as she took a few steps forward to rest. She turned around to Selwyn, the smile still on her lips. "Thank you, I'm sure you'd want to go back to the feast."

Selwyn didn't answer, instead forced himself upon Anya, pushing her down onto the bed before ripping her clothes off her body. Taking her innocence away within a single heartbeat, leaving Anya to scream out in pain as she gave up trying to fight him off her.

 **~#~**

The next morning, Anya was awake as the sun was rising on the horizon, Selwyn still asleep by her side. She slid out of the bed, quietly placing her clothes on before she ran downstairs and into the kitchen, bringing out several full and large jars of alcohol. Grabbing one, she walked through the house, letting the alcohol drop onto the floor. Once one was empty, she grabbed another and walked upstairs, making sure she was quiet around Selwyn's sleeping form. She noticed the blood stain on the bed, making her sick to her stomach but she forced it back in order to continue her plan.

Once she was finished and stood at the front door, she lit a match and let it fall to the floor, igniting the house into flames before she walked out of the door and left the house to burn. A small smile came onto her lips as she soon heard the desperate cries of Selwyn from inside, not once turning around to see what damage she had caused.

Almost as soon as she returned back to the village, people noticed the house burning. By the time people got to the scene, it was too late and there was nothing they could do to save their commander. Anya knew that she would probably be killed for what she did but she wasn't afraid, in fact, she rather embraced the probability of her death. At least then she wouldn't have to live with the idea of a pregnancy and a bastard child, something she was completely against.

Anya stopped walking, her eyes staring in front of her. A single tear fell down from her eye before she let out a loud scream, falling to her knees as she forced her eyes to close tightly. People heard her scream but did nothing to help her, their commander was dead and they thought she was mourning over the loss.

That was when the guards grabbed Anya in their tight grip, even with Anya kicking and screaming with all she had, they refused to let her go. She had killed their commander, after all. Which would count for treason and treason never went unpunished. She continued to fight against their grip as she was dragged through the village; many people shouted rude things at her and spat on her as she was dragged past them. The word "ripa" – which meant murderer in Aadmari – was tossed around between the guards and the people in the village, chanting it around Anya.

Shylton came out of his home, wondering what was going on but quickly ran up to the guards and Anya. "What did she do? She's with me, she's not a criminal."

"She murdered the commander, Shylton. That's treason and that makes her a criminal." One of the guards told him, keeping a tight grip on Anya's arms.

Shylton was taken aback by what the guard told him before he turned his attention to Anya. "Anya, please tell me this isn't true."

Tears ran down Anya's cheeks, her voice growing hoarse with her screaming. "He raped me, Shylton! I didn't want him to live with what he'd done."

"You killed him!"

"Did you fucking just hear me? HE RAPED ME. And you did nothing to help me. I had to do it." Anya screamed at him, her arms and legs growing tired of the constant struggling against the guards.

Anya was pushed into a metal cell and the door locked behind her, she was told that she was to be put on trial and if found guilty, she would be executed in front of the whole village as punishment for killing their commander.

Long story short, Anya was found guilty and was due to be executed by hanging the next morning, but was stopped by Shylton. He somehow convinced the council to allow her to live but she must complete a ritual to show that she was a woman, only then she would be safe to live with the people in peace.

She stood beside Shylton and a woman with long black hair called Pygott, who was talking to the whole village about what Anya had done. "This outsider has murdered our commander, but at Shylton's request, we will not kill her. Instead, she will have to complete the adulthood rituals. If she fails any part of it, she will be banished from our home and not allowed to return. If she succeeds in all parts, she is welcome to stay as one of our own."

"What does the ritual include?" Anya asked, her hands laced together and hidden behind her.

"Well, there are different parts to it. First, comes the taking of innocence, you cannot be seen as a woman until the deed is done – although you have already completed this challenge. Then comes the proof, you have to prove to the village that you are a strong woman and are capable of anything if she puts her mind to, you will have to eat the heart of an animal and if you throw it up, you fail. The heart is raw but that's the least of your worries, in my opinion. Then comes the bounding ceremony, where you will be bound to one member of the village for life, which will not be broken until one of you dies. Then comes the cleansing, all your wounds and scars from the previous rituals will be cured so you will be able to start a new life as a woman. And finally comes the presentation, you will be dressed in traditional Archenlandian ceremonial clothes and make-up and presented to the village as a woman and if the elders approve, only then will the ritual will be complete."

Anya nodded, following closely behind Pygott as she walked into a tent. As much as she wanted Shylton, Anya knew that it wasn't a possibility. They needed to prepare her for the first task; eating a raw animal heart and make sure she didn't throw it back up.

She almost threw up just by looking at it and smelling it, it smelled _that_ bad. And it was worse when she took a bite out of it, the metallic taste of it made it hard for her to swallow it and actually be able to keep it down.

Blood rushed down Anya's face and chin, dropping onto her clothes and to the grass beneath her. The dark red liquid filled her lips, staining her teeth into a dark red and black mess as she devoured the still warm heart. The rusty taste of blood filled her mouth and left a bitter taste in her mouth but if eating a heart meant she could live safely with Shylton's people, then she'd do it.

She almost threw up multiple times from how disgusting the heart was, but she kept it down, proving herself to Shylton's people that she was a fighter and she belonged with them. If she was banished, she would've jumped off the nearest cliff – just so she wouldn't slowly die from starvation once more.

Once the heart was eaten, the crowd that had gathered around Anya cheered, leaving Anya to give them a light smile just to let them know that she was okay when in reality she was far from okay. All she wanted to do was throw the heart back up and then it would all be over.

With the dry blood still on Anya's hands, face and arms, she was moved into a tent for the bounding ceremony. It was decided that she would be bound to Shylton since it appeared that he was the only person she actually trusted with her life and didn't want to kill him.

The bounding was simple enough; she had to drink a white fluid, read out a passage from a book and wear matching silver rings to prove to the village that they were bound for life and they couldn't break the bound until one of them died. But Anya didn't mind that, she rather embraced that and was thankful that she had someone who would always be there for her.

After the bounding was over, she was finally allowed to have a bath and wash off all the blood that was on her and have her blisters and cuts treated and be ready for the final part of the ritual that would happen the next day, just to make sure that she would be properly prepared for it.

 **~#~**

Once the new day arrived, Anya sat and waited inside a tent for the final part of the ritual to happen while a small group of women came inside the tent, carrying many baskets with them. The first thing they did was ask Anya to remove all her clothes – something that Anya wasn't fully comfortable doing but did it eventually – so they could help her into a tight fitted and brightly coloured dress, with a brown belt tied securely around her waist. Her feet slid into wooden sandals, and were tied with bead covered leather straps to keep them on.

Once her clothing was done, the women moved onto her hair; cutting it properly so it looked even before combing through it to remove the tangles from it and making it appear more normal. As her hair was being done, one of the women started painting red, gold and black strips across her face, stretching from one side of her face to the other, going from just under her eyebrows to under her eyes, placing more red paint on her lips as well.

After hair and make-up was done, a feather headdress was placed on her head. It mostly had black feathers but also had some golden and brown feathers inside it.

After almost an hour of preparation, Anya was finally ready to be presented to the village as a woman and be accepted into their society. The women first walked out to formally start the ceremony and to give Anya time to see herself in the mirror before the moment of truth came around; where the elders would decide if she was accepted into the village or if she was going to be banished and never allowed to return.

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Anya could hardly recognize herself. The figure staring back at her wasn't the child who had murdered the commander, but a woman who was a warrior in her own right. She had the urge to just touch her face, just to make sure it was her, but she had to force that back so her make-up wouldn't be smudged. She needed to be perfect in order to pass and to finally be a part of the society that Shylton called home.

Her heart skipped a beat once she heard her name being called, taking a deep breath, she brought herself away from the mirror and prepared herself to face the elders. Anya walked out of the tent, being careful to not move her headdress or mess up any part of her clothing. This was the moment of truth, the moment that would decide if she was to be part of the village or if she failed and was to be thrown out and never allowed to return.

One of the elders walked up to Anya and inspected her closely, she looked into Anya's eyes for a moment before walking in circles around Anya, making sure everything was up to their usual standards of passing. After a few moments, she finally spoke. "Yu laik nau won gon osir." **(You are now one of us)** She announced before walking away.

Then Anya turned to face Shylton before running over to him with her arms out stretched. "I passed! I can't believe it!" She practically screamed into his ear as she hugged him tightly.

Shylton laughed loudly, holding onto her tightly. "I knew you would! I never doubted you for a second, you passed easily. But now that you're officially a woman, I have a present for you to celebrate your achievement."

The pair walked together back towards Shylton's home, Shylton leading Anya to a table before disappearing into another room for a few moments before returning and Shanding Anya a sword wrapped in a black blanket, removing the blanket, Anya's heart skipped a beat. The sword had roses engraved upon it with the words "Ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim" **(Get knocked down, get back up)** placed in the middle of the blade. She ran her fingers along the engraved words and roses, a small smile coming onto her lips. "It's _my_ sword, thank you," was all she could manage to say as she stared at her sword in awe.

A wide smile came onto Shylton's face as he watched Anya, sitting down at the table beside her. "I'm glad you like it, I'll teach you sometime if you'd like."

Anya moved her gaze from her sword up to Shylton, the smile still plastered onto her face. "I'd like that."

 **~#~**

Several weeks after being formally allowed to stay, Anya was adjusting to life in Archenland. She was gaining weight and learning how to use a sword and fight, both were good news for her health both mental and physical. She knew that later that day, there would be a tournament where anyone could test their skills and if they're good enough, they would be allowed to train with the army – something that Anya was keen to get into.

She changed out of her sleeping clothes and into a plain shirt with dark trousers along with a leather jacket and leather boots, then her sword over her shoulder. She left Shylton's house and walked towards the training grounds, following the sounds of a crowd of people cheering and clapping – that was where the tournament was being held. Anya arrived just as a fight was finishing, both participants were coated with bruises, blood and dirt but that didn't put her off, it just made her more egger to fight.

"Anyone else want to test their skills?" Pygott asked, looking around the large group that surrounded the training area for anyone willing to potentially die for a place in the army and be trained to fight for their country.

Anya took a deep breath before speaking up. "I will," she pushed through the crowd to get into the middle of the training area, keeping a tight grip on her sword and ignored the glares she was getting from the people who surrounded her.

Once Anya stood in the middle of the circle, rain started to pour down from the dark skies, soaking everyone immediately but Anya didn't care, even when the rain started blurring her vision. She had something to prove and not even a little rain would get in the way of that.

Pygott was slightly taken aback by Anya's eagerness to fight but she quickly hid it by turning to one of the best warriors – Verney – and gave him a slight nod. "Anya, you will be against Verney, no weapons are allowed. You will use only your body to take down your opponent."

Anya faced Verney, throwing away her sword and removing her leather jacket. Verney stood at least half a foot taller than Anya, making her seem like a child compared to him. Normally, Anya would be running away screaming just at the size of Verney but she needed to prove to everyone that she was strong and she could survive anything that would be thrown at her. This was no time to be a scared child; this was the time to be a warrior.

She didn't even hear Pygott start the fight before she felt a fist dive into her stomach, knocking her to the ground. She let out a cry as she massaged her stomach before climbing to her feet to throw multiple punches to Verney's chest, doing little to no damage to him before he picked her up as if she was a pile of sticks and threw her down onto the muddy ground and kicked her several times. "Have you lost your fight, huh?" She heard Verney's voice sneer at her, a few chuckles coming from the crowd.

Anya forced herself back onto her feet, spitting out a little blood as the rain poured down on her face. "No, I just found it." Was all she said before she charged at Verney once more, climbing onto his body as if he was a climbing wall and bit down hard on his ear, a loud cry coming from Verney before he ripped her off him, Anya's body flying through the air and landing on the cold ground harder than she had done before. By this point, Anya knew she was seriously injured but she couldn't give up. She still had so much to prove to both herself and the village.

That was when Anya started coughing up blood and struggled to get back up onto her feet but somehow, she managed it. Once she was on her feet, she charged at Verney, throwing punches and kicks at him as hard as she could with all the energy she had left in her. Verney simply pushed her off him, but once Anya was on the ground, he kicked her and punched her harder than he did before. Pygott had to tell him to stop before he killed her and that was when Anya started losing grip on reality.

She was carried inside a tent to be taken care of by a doctor to make sure her injuries weren't too serious. In the end, Anya only came out with a few bruises along with a sprained wrist and ankle. Lucky compared to others who were faced against Verney.

Sitting down on a chair, Anya inspected her mud covered hands as she waited for someone to treat her wounds. That was when Pygott walked in, taking a seat beside Anya. "You fought like a child today, all aggression with no thought, no defence, no accuracy. Always leaving yourself exposed, revealing your next move before each strike."

Anya sighed, making small movements with her head to try to ease the pain. "Okay, I know, I got my arse kicked; that should make you happy."

"It does, because you did not give up and that is a rare thing to have, it must be guided. Do you know what a warrior's second is?"

Anya's eyes narrowed a little, her eyebrows fusing together. "An apprentice?"

"I can make you a great warrior, Anya of The Sky People if you are willing to do what it takes to become my second."

"What's in it for you?"

"First lesson; never question me."

Anya could hardly believe what she was hearing; Pygott wanted her in the army is one thing but to be trained by her? That was something special. After a few moments of thinking, Anya answered. "Alright, I'll do it."

A sly smile came onto Pygott's lips as she stood up once more. "Okay, Sky Girl. We start tomorrow. Get some rest; you're going to need it." She told Anya before leaving the room.

That was when a smile came onto Anya's lips, happy that she had proved herself to not only herself but to Pygott as well. The only thing she had to do now was wait for her father to bring her back to Aslan's Country and forgive her for what she did – however long that would take.

 **~#~**

After several months of continuous hard work and training, Anya was finally ready to go on the battlefield and fight for Archenland and Narnia against Calormen. Under the guidance of both Pygott and Shylton; Anya became a strong and highly skilled warrior who could kill in seconds and without a second thought, something that was highly valued in the army.

The war that was about to take place was Anya's first time on the battlefield and you'd be lying if you said that Anya wasn't excited. She looked like a child waking up on Christmas Day, not a warrior about to go into battle where the odds of her death were extremely high.

"This is no game, Sky Girl. This is war." Pygott hissed through her clenched teeth towards Anya, keeping a firm grip on her arm to stop Anya from jumping around.

Anya glared at her, shoving Pygott's hand away. "This is my form of a game, Grounder." She answered back sharply, taking a step away from Pygott.

The familiar sound of the battle horn alerted Anya to take her sword out of its holder and prepare herself for what was about to come – an entire army of Calormene soldiers who would be far more skilful and have more experience than Anya ever would. But that didn't put her off; it instead just added more fuel to the inferno that was already burning inside of her.

The sound of chainmail against swords became therapeutic to Anya as she sprinted across the battlefield and ready to sink her sword into the first Calormene soldier she saw. Blood splattered all over her but she didn't care, all she cared about was killing the soldiers quickly so she could easily kill more.

Anya was busy fighting soldiers all around her, she didn't look at Shylton until they had been defeated and she finally turned around to look at Shylton just so he could give her a reassuring nod, something that they often did during training. And that was when her world stopped spinning and everything seemed to spiral out of control.

A soldier stuck his sword straight into Shylton's chest, bringing Shylton to his knees. "SHYLTON!" Anya screamed, before running towards him, and swiftly beheading the soldier. She brought Shylton into her arms, tears streaming down her cheeks and onto his body. "You're gonna be okay. You'll be okay. We'll just get you to a doctor, and then you'll be okay."

Shylton choked on some of his own blood before he turned his head to the side to spit it out. "Anya, you know there's nothing you can do to stop this. There's so much I wish I could have taught you, my daughter. You have to keep going, promise me you will keep fighting until the end. Even in the darkest of times, you must keep going. Promise me that, Anya of the skies."

Anya nodded her head, tears continuing to fall down her cheeks as she held onto his body tighter. "Yu gonplei ste odon." **(Your fight is over)** Anya whispered into Shylton's ear before snapping his neck and feeling him go limp in her arms. She didn't want Shylton to suffer due to his injuries, so killing him right then and there was the kindest thing to do. It was a kinder way to go than to die slowly of his injuries – it was far less painful and much quicker.

She rested her forehead against his, keeping him close to her as her tears clouded up her vision. Even when she felt arms around her, Anya refused to let go of Shylton's body, screaming and fighting against the grip on her arms to get them off her. "Anya, there's nothing we can do now. He's gone. We have to get out of here, and that's an order." Pygott hissed into her ears, pulling Anya away from Shylton's body.

The walk off the battlefield was a blur, and Anya was lost in her own thoughts the whole time. She didn't even acknowledge the fact that she had been placed in Shylton's home so she'd be safe and everyone could continue the war without her. She was in a state of shock, and practically dead to the world, useless to anyone and everyone who came near her to talk. And there she stayed for two says straight; not talking or eating, just thinking about how the most important person in her life had been ripped away from her in a matter of seconds.

 **~#~**

It was a few days after the war was over when Shylton was going to be burned, the Archenlandian way of a funeral. A part of her didn't want to go, but she had to, she needed to say goodbye to Shylton properly even though she was never going to properly let him go.

Dressed in a simple black dress, Anya walked with Pygott to the funeral which was held near the outskirts of the village, so the smell of burning bodies wouldn't disrupt anyone. The tears were dry on her cheeks as she stuck to Pygott's side, still not saying a word to anyone, instead simply nodding or shaking her head.

When the actual funeral had started, Anya kept her eyes on Shylton's body and zoned out completely and Pygott had to nudge her arm to tell her that it was time to burn his body. After everything that had happened, it was decided that Anya would be the one to set his body on fire and to allow her to give a proper goodbye to the man who had changed and saved her life in more ways than one.

With a shaky breath, Anya held onto a large branch that was on fire and was going to be used to burn the body. "Mebi oso na hit choda op nodotaim, ai nontu." **(May we meet again, my father)** Was all Anya said before she lit the grave on fire and watched Shylton's body burn. She watched his body burn for a few minutes before she quietly excused herself and ran off into her tent – the tears stinging her eyes as she hid her face in her hands.

Although Shylton had died, Anya refused to allow the bond to be broken, it was the last thing that she had with Shylton and she'd never let that go for as long as she lived.

After Shylton's death and a brief stage of depression, Pygott took care of Anya and mentored her until her death and Anya was fully capable to survive without a mentor. Despite being from Aslan's Country, Anya quickly became a favourite between all who lived in Archenland, giving hope to all she came into contact with. She never married or fell in love, instead distracting herself with exploring the world she now called home and helping people with the army.

She never returned to Narnia, despite being requested to visit on numerous occasions; it reminded her to much of her father and her past. Instead, she spent her time fighting in numerous battles between Calormen and Archenland – making sure that her home never fell into the hands of the Calormenes.

When the Telmarines invaded Narnia, Anya allowed many Narnians into her country to live away from the Telmarines. Although, when the Telmarines tried to invade Archenland, they were met with an army far stronger than their own which was led by Anya, proving that Archenland would not fall into Telmarine hands like Narnia did.

Anya was never fully accepted into Archenlandian society until she saved and protected their newest commander on the battlefield, for which she became a hero and solidified her status as a force to be reckoned with and became the new commander several years later. And the rest, as they say, is history.


	3. Their Last Hope

The discussion over the siege of Miraz's castle was going into its second half-hour and everyone involved was growing frustrated with the other and nothing was being solved. By this point, the discussion had turned into a shouting match - who could shout the loudest over each other to get their point across but they all became drowned in the chorus of shouting and screaming at one another.

Both Peter and Caspian were getting headaches from the shouting and trying to think of different ways to explain their ideas but mostly ended up repeating themselves multiple times. Nothing was getting sorted and everyone knew it but they couldn't even hear themselves think, let alone tell everyone else to be quiet so they could talk like civilized people.

After everything, it was Glenstorm who silenced them all. It appeared that he too had grown tired of the bickering and screaming that was going on between them all and he desired for a final choice being made. Caspian gave him a slight nod as a thank you before he spoke up, his voice hoarse from shouting so much. "We do have another chance to make this siege easier. We could call upon Princess Anya."

The moment Anya's name slipped from Caspian's lips, the entire room erupted into more shouting of "she's not even real" or "she's just a child". Once more, Glenstorm ended the shouting but it was Peter who spoke up this time. "I'm sorry but who is Anya?"

A fawn by the name of Maud brought out a leather bound notebook and opened it to a page with a drawing upon it. "Anya; the forsaken daughter of Aslan, was often sighted in Narnia several decades after the Golden Age and remained in Narnia for many years until she disappeared. Although there are many theories about what happened to her although the most popular belief is that she passed away somewhere near Lantern's Waste although her body has never been found to prove this theory." He nodded his head after finishing as he placed the notebook back into a satchel.

Silence fell across the room after Maud had spoken of Anya; she wasn't an easy topic to talk about. It wasn't as if she had died, it was more the fact that she simply disappeared almost as quickly as she had appeared, leaving every Narnian feel as if they had lost a child.

"So," Peter started, breaking the silence as he took a step closer to Caspian, "how do you propose we get this Anya to fight on our side?"

 **~#~**

There were no clouds in the sky, leaving the moon to illuminate the world in a silver haze. But even with the light of the moonlight guiding Peter and Caspian, both had small lanterns to help guide their way. Once they were clear of Aslan's Howe, they set their lanterns down on a fallen tree log and brought out a neatly folded piece of paper. On it was a poem that was promised to bring Anya back to Narnia and do whatever they wanted her to do.

Looking at the poem, Caspian took a deep breath before he spoke the words;

"As friends of Narnia, we gather here to call to you,

To ask the trees of the earth and the stones of the sea,

If you could return the soul that gave you life and the one you took away.

Her rabbit heart true, and her lion mind in a war,

We ask of you to give us back our princess; Anya of the skies."

Almost as soon as the words left Caspian's lips, both of them heard a woman's laugh echo through the trees and the sound of feet running across the leaves that littered the forest floor. A cold breeze blew through the dark forest, the leaves on the floor blowing along with the wind. The two boys' eyes were fixed in front of them, the cold wind making their eyes water slightly as they kept their eyes peeled for any sign of the woman but they could see nothing. Their lanterns dimmed slowly until the light had completely gone, leaving both of them alone in the darkness, unknowing if the poem had worked to bring them Anya.

Just as they were about to give up, a woman dressed in a dark blue dress seemed to appear almost out of thin air before them. Her dark hair cascaded down past her shoulders and fell almost to her waist. Her piercing blue eyes shone through the darkness like sapphires, dark and beautiful, almost haunting. She stopped in front of the two boys, picking up some of her skirts to give a low curtsy to them. When she rose, she eyed both boys slowly. "I believe you called."

Both Peter and Caspian were in awe of the beautiful and mysterious woman before them, not saying a word for several moments before Caspian finally gathered up the courage to speak. "Are you Anya?"

A small smile came onto Anya's lips as she turned her gaze to fix upon Caspian's dark eyes. "Yes, I am. And who might you be?"

Caspian bowed his head. "I am Prince Caspian, and this is High King Peter."

Anya looked at Peter, a small blush falling on her cheeks as she forced another smile. "Wow, I am a lucky girl. Now, why exactly did you call me?"

 **~#~**

As soon as Anya entered Aslan's How, everyone except the Pevensie's and Caspian gave her a low bow as a sign of respect and stared at her in amazement - just knowing that the legend of Anya was true and the daughter of Aslan was standing before them in all her glory.

A slight frown fell upon Anya's features as she noticed the three other members of the Pevensie family and how they were the only ones who did not bow like everybody else did. "Are these your siblings, High King? You all look so much alike."

Peter stepped forward, nodding his head. "Yes, these are my siblings; Susan, Edmund and Lucy. This is Anya, the daughter of Aslan and our last hope as it seems."

Edmund took a step towards Anya, his hand out to shake hers but alas Anya just seemed to stare at his hand, giving quick glances around the room in a desperate attempt to understand what was going on. After a few moments of silence, Edmund spoke up to explain. "Oh, you shake it. It's a formal way of greeting where we come from."

Anya's features lit up as she took Edmund's hand to shake it almost violently. "Of course! How rude of me? You have to forgive me, I have spent the last few years in Archenland and I now live there and I have not been able to meet new people in a while."

Edmund couldn't help but let out a light laugh once he released Anya's hand from the handshake. "The daughter of the true king of Narnia yet you live in Archenland. I'm not sure he'd approve of that."

Anya forced a smile as she brought her hand back to her side before she hid both of her hands behind her back, intertwining them. "Well, I'm sure he's proud of me either way."

Peter stepped in once again, noticing Anya's uncomforted mood when asked about Aslan. "Now that Anya has arrived, I'm sure we can finally get ready for the siege. We'll explain the plan while we're preparing if that's alright with you, Anya."

Anya nodded, not fully listening as her eyes were fixed on the carving of her father on the wall. "I'll catch you all up, you can all get ready. I just need to do some things first, I won't be long."

Everyone cleared the room to prepare for the siege, leaving Anya alone with the Stone Table. She slowly walked up to the carving of her father, placing a hand over his mane, letting out one loud sob as she rested her forehead against the carving. One sob turned into multiple until the whole room was echoing with her sobbing, crying out for her father who would never come. It had been a long time since Anya had cried over her father or even thought about him and the only reason why she stopped doing it was because it hurt her too much. She felt utterly weak and helpless - something that the daughter of the mighty lion should not be in any shape or form.

Sinking down to the floor, Anya let out a scream before hitting the wall with the palm of her hand. "Hey, dad, it's Anya. I don't know if you can hear me or not but I guess I don't really care. You said that you'd banish me here until you forgive me. Well, today marks the 500th anniversary of you sending me down here to die so it would be a really good time for me to come back now. Does that sound fair?" She waited a few moments before continuing. "Of course not, you still want me to live out my punishment. I just miss you, and mum. And I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it but if I had known you would have done this to me, I wouldn't have even attempted it." And with another hit to the wall with her hand, Anya left the room to prepare for the siege with the other Narnians.

Once she came out, all traces of crying had completely gone, she was in warrior mode and warriors don't cry, only their victims do. She was quickly handed a sword along with a belt to hold it with while they travelled to the castle. Just as she was attaching her belt to her dress, she heard a centaur speaking in a language she understood within a heartbeat; it was the language she normally spoke to her people in. She couldn't help but let a wide smile spread across her lips as she walked over towards them and start talking to them.

Peter noticed that Anya was murmuring with a few centaurs in a language that he didn't recognise; he turned towards Truffelhunter as his eyebrows fused together in confusion. "What language is she speaking in? I don't recognise it."

Trufflehunter looked up from the straps he was tightening on Peter's boots for the siege. "I believe it's called Aadmari, it's a language that only few Narnians know now. It used to be the language of the Narnians many years ago but now it is hardly used in Narnia. Although I have heard it's used more in Archenland now."

Anya could sense eyes on her that didn't belong to the centaurs before her, almost as fast as a bolt of lightning; she turned her head directly towards Peter and Trufflehunter. Her eyes locked with Peter's for a moment before she turned back to the centaurs, continuing their conversation. It felt like Anya was home in Archenland when she was talking to the centaurs, not somewhere in the middle of Narnia and expected to attack a castle of some false king. She missed home but she had a duty to perform, and all she had to do was wait a few hours and then she'd be allowed to go home and back to her people who she imagined missed her.

Once everyone was ready, Anya was introduced to Mallowburne; the griffin who had the responsibility to take her to the castle and then back to the Howe after the siege was done.

 **~#~**

Anya's eyes were closed as she waited for the signal that they were arriving at Miraz's castle - her composure was completely calm as if she was going to take a peaceful walk through the woods, not like she was about to take on hundreds of heavily armed guards who would kill her within the blink of an eye and without a second thought.

"We're here, your highness. I will wait for your signal." Mallowburne told her, keeping a tight hold on the princess.

"Signal? For what?" Peter asked; his eyes widening as he looked at Anya, his grip tightening on his sword.

Anya didn't answer; a small smile came upon her lips before she spoke. "Now!" She shouted, feeling her body instantly being released before she felt the air rushing past her as she fell. She loved that feeling - she felt weightless, she didn't have to fear anything. It was just like she was flying and in those few moments, she was truly happy and at peace.

When Anya hit the ground, she left a small crater in the stone where she landed - completely unharmed. She took a few moments to remain completely still before she stood up, reaching for her sword placed on her right hip. She heard the sound of feet running towards her, swords being drawn and the familiar sound of chainmail against skin and stone. She let out a bitter laugh as she prepared herself to face off the Telmarine guards, a wide smile spread across her lips. "Oh, how I've missed this," was all she said before she started fighting the guards.

Within moments, the guards were dead and lay around Anya's feet. She removes her sword from the body of one of the guards, completely ignoring the blood that coated both her and her sword. With a smile on her face, she walked over to the gate to help Peter and Susan open it. Once the gate was opened, the true siege of the castle started as the rest of the Narnian army arrived and stormed all other guards that surrounded them.

Just as Anya was fully getting into the spirit of battle, she was told to fall back and leave the castle in case she was slaughtered by the Telmarine army. Since she didn't have a choice in to stay or to go, she was picked up and thrust onto Peter's horse so they could escape together, much to Anya's protests to keep fighting or go back to help others. When Peter looked back at the scene, Anya looked back too. She gave a nod to one of the centaurs before she mouthed the words; "yu gonplei ste odon." **(Your fight is over)** Then she and Peter rode back towards Aslan's Howe.

By the time they arrived back, Anya was practically falling asleep with her head resting against Peter's back and her arms wrapped tightly around his middle. As much as she enjoyed a fight, it did completely exhaust her and all she wanted to do was sleep for days but she still had a duty to perform for everyone at the Howe.

As tired as she was, Peter still helped her off the horse so she could get inside and have some proper rest. By the time she was arrived inside a tent, Anya was pretty much asleep to the world and several fauns had to clean away the blood on her skin and hair before she was changed into clean clothes and then left to sleep.

She awoke several hours later, sighing as she sat up in her bed. Very quickly she noticed that she was clean from all the blood and the dress she wore the previous night. Instead, she was in a dark green long sleeved dress that came down to her ankles - definitely something she wasn't wearing the night before. Taking a deep breath, she walked out of her tent to see everyone having breakfast.

Just as she was about to go back into her tent, Peter came up to her with a plate. "You should eat; you were out for a while."

Anya simply shook her head, pushing the plate away from her. "I'm fine. In fact, all I need are my clothes back and then I should be getting home. Everyone's probably wondering where I've gone."

Peter's heart almost skipped a beat in that moment. He placed his plate down to grab Anya's arm. "You're leaving? But we need you. _I_ need you."

Anya shrugged off his hand, her arms folding over her chest. "You said you needed help with the siege of Miraz's castle - I did exactly what you asked me to and now I need to get back to my people. I'm sure you being a High King you understand my urgency to get back to my people."

Caspian joined in at that moment. "Anya, you can't just leave. It's too far, and Miraz's men will find you."

"Not you too, Caspian." Anya complained, the palm of her hand slapping her forehead before she continued. "I do not need protecting or saving, I can look after myself, thank you very much. I don't care if Miraz gets me, he can have me if he can actually defeat me which is highly unlikely since he probably won't even catch me."

"Just stay one more day so you can rest and we can make sure you have everything you need for your journey." Peter offered.

Anya sighed heavily, rolling her eyes. "Alright, fine. I'll stay for one more day and then I'm gone." She threw her hands up in surrender before she went back into her tent, closing it as soon as she was inside.

 **~#~**

It wasn't until hours later when Anya came out of her tent again, her long hair tied up into a tight braid. She shook her head when she was offered any form of food, instead sitting down on the grass and staring at the thick woods that faced the camp.

After a short while, Peter sat beside her but still said nothing to her until he finally spoke up to ask her something he'd wanted to ask her ever since she arrived. "Why were you banished here? If you don't mind me asking." He asked; his eyes focused on Anya intently.

Anya took a long time to reply, her eyes still focused on the woods as she replied. "It's simple; I rebelled against my father just to see what would happen but it went wrong and he punished me by leaving me here until I learned my lesson. I gave up waiting for him to come a long time ago; I don't think he'll ever forgive me for what I did."

"What exactly did you do?"

"I played with dark magic and I got my mother killed in the process. My father was heartbroken and when he found out that it was my fault, he didn't hesitate to banish me here for however long it'll take for him to forgive me. And five hundred years later, he still hasn't forgiven me and now I know that this is where I'm supposed to be. I have my people here and my duty lies with them. I have my own kingdom here, and I'm not going to give that up just yet." And with that, Anya picked herself up and went back into her tent, once again closing the entrance and blocking anyone who wanted to enter.

Peter didn't even bother to move after Anya left, her words stuck inside his brain and he had a new prospective on the mysterious girl the Narnians know so well. She had to fight her way to survive and that changed her; from other Narnians, he heard stories of when she first came to Narnia, the sweet and innocent child that came was no longer there, that child had to go in order for Anya to survive for so long on her own. And in that way, Peter understood her. He too had to change in order to survive going back to England after his adventures in Narnia; they had a lot more in common than most people would think.

 **~#~**

When the Telmarine army came towards the Narnians, Anya was already in her battle armour; a pair of black, tight fitting leather trousers, she wore a black jacket over the top tightened to her body by a thick black belt, her black leather boots completed her battle armour - despite no actual armour being on her body. The only weapons she had on her were two swords in scabbards that were on her back.

Anya's dark hair was tied back into multiple braids around her head so none of her hair would fall across her face during the battle. Her normally clean face was now covered in black face paint, making her face almost unrecognizable. The only way you could tell that it was her was her bright blue eyes that seemed more like diamonds shining.

She walked beside Peter, her hand almost instinctively wrapping itself around one of his fingers as they walked towards the fight to the death he was due to have against Miraz. She wasn't afraid; she was more worried for Peter. She had to blink back the tears that started to form in her eyes; she just had to remind herself that he was going to be fine and that he was going to win. If only she actually believed it.

While she watched the fight, she had to hide behind her hands or even behind Edmund since she couldn't watch Peter being hurt in that way - which was strange for her since normally, she would be cheering the fight on and watching it eagerly to see who won. Not this time. Admittedly, she started to have a softer side for the High King but she wouldn't let anyone know that, of course. She was a princess and a warrior, after all.

Then the true battle started, and the Narnians watched as the Telmarine army closed in upon them, but the Pevensie's and Caspian's eyes were fixed upon Anya, since she was chosen to lead them into battle by Peter, much to the protests of Caspian and Susan who both thought someone else should lead them into battle. Anya seemed so calm while everyone around her looked as if they were about to faint from fear.

Anya took a step forward, holding a hand over Peter's chest to hold him back, knowing full well he'd follow her like a lost puppy. It was all he had done since they had returned from Miraz's castle. "You may want to cover your ears; it's going to get loud." Was all she said before she walked towards the army, her Narnian accent thicker than any dwarf's. Once she was a few yards away from the army, she unleashed her secret weapon. She let out the loudest scream heard to anyone - Narnian and Telmarine alike. It stopped almost the whole Telmarine army in their tracks, many of the men removing their helmets to cover their ears while others didn't even bother since trails of blood came from their ears and dripped down their necks - their eardrums had ruptured and they would probably never hear anything again.

With a satisfied smile, Anya turned back towards the gobsmacked Narnian army. "You can take things from here, correct?" She raised an eyebrow up at Peter before she went back to stand beside him, grabbing both of her swords to hold while she waited for Peter to lead the army.

As the Telmarine army came closer towards the Narnians; Peter and Anya looked at each other for a moment, the fear clear in both of their eyes before Peter leaned over and whispered in Anya's ear, loud and clear. "Lead us into battle; show us how you lead your warriors."

In that moment, all fear left Anya's eyes as she held her sword up to the sky and let out a loud battle cry as she walked back onto the battlefield, Narnians gradually joining in with the battle cry until the battlefield was filled with their battle cry, the Telmarines didn't want to admit it but once they heard the battle cry, they did get slightly afraid. The Narnians had a seasoned warrior while the Telmarines barely had any battles to prepare them for anything like the battle that was going on.

Anya's pace became faster so she was jogging, then running and then sprinting towards the nearest Telmarine that came into her line of sight and then she was in for the kill, the soldier barely had any time to react or even defend himself before Anya got to him, slaughtering him within the blink of an eye, just like her people had taught her to do.

By the time the battle was over, Anya was completely covered in blood and dirt once more and ready to wash off the blood and war paint. Just as she was washing the blood off her body and swords, she noticed her father talking with the Pevensie's and Caspian. She rolled her eyes, completely ignoring what was going on and going back to cleaning her swords and helping others. She didn't want to see her father, despite her crying over him yesterday - which felt more like an eternity ago to her - she didn't even consider him family anymore. He abandoned her and she was going to abandon him, too, and that was exactly what she did.

 **~#~**

The next few weeks were filled with celebrations to commemorate the Narnians taking back their country and of course; Caspian becoming king. But even with all the happiness, Anya still missed her home in Archenland and she was going back, she just needed to find the appropriate time to tell everyone that she was going home.

At one of the many parties; Anya was stood beside the dancefloor, just watching everyone enjoy themselves. For once, Anya had a small blue and silver tiara placed on her head, something that was given to her by Caspian as a thank you for helping him defeat his uncle and for staying with them all that time, even when she wanted to go back to Archenland. Her dress was a dark red - a nice change for her rather than being constantly in black or dark blue - that fell past her feet and was coated in small flowers across the entire dress, making her stand out within the crowds at the castle.

Anya felt almost hypnotised by the music, taking a deep breath before downing the rest of her wine and kicking off her slightly heeled shoes before she finally danced with the many other Narnians. It felt like an eternity since she'd actually been able to dance and enjoy herself. Living in Archenland, Anya rarely got the opportunity to wear long and beautiful dresses and to behave like a princess; her life was mostly rolling around in dirt, traveling from one place to another and fighting on battlefields.

Soon enough, the dancefloor was empty and it was just Anya spinning continuously with the whole court around the edges, clapping along to the music. She couldn't help but laugh a little as she kept on spinning, her skirts flying up to create a beautiful spinning circle around her. In that moment, she was happy; she was well and truly happy - something that came to her rarely after she was banished.

After Anya was far too dizzy to even stand, she found a seat near the dancefloor to catch her breath, have something to drink and just watch everyone else at court enjoy themselves. She was happy that she stayed, at least then she got to know the kings and queens of old - something that she had heard her father talk about often but she could now say that she knew them personally and she cared for them, they became her new family. But she knew it would hurt when they left, she was just waiting for when that day would come, even when she was dreading it. It was going to be hard, but what would be harder was to say goodbye to Peter, her fondness still stayed with her even with all the times they rarely saw each other, she still wanted to spend time with him and she didn't know how to go about telling him her feelings - that wasn't something she was taught in Archenland. She was taught to fight, but not to speak to a boy about her feelings.

All too soon, it was time for the Pevensies to leave and Anya's throat was tightening with every word Caspian said. All she wanted to do was hide in a dark corner and sob until her eyes could no longer cry but she needed to be strong and give them a proper goodbye, they deserved that after everything they had been through together.

Peter faced Anya, not fully knowing what to say to the other but they settled for silence and taking in each other's faces for the last time. After a few moments, Anya rested the palm of her hand on Peter's chest, over his rapidly beating heart. "May we meet again," she gave him a shaky smile before she dropped her hand.

A tear fell down Anya's cheek as she turned away from Peter but before she could say another word, Peter grabbed her arm to bring her back to face him and pressed a kiss to her lips. To her, he tasted like the sweetest drop of honey mixed with the sour taste of lemons. To him, she tasted like the sea but mixed to perfection with the fresh air of the woods. All too soon; the kiss was over, leaving both of them completely breathless as they stepped away from each other.

Anya couldn't stop the smile on her face as she turned away from Peter, her lips tingling and she had to fight the urge to touch them. It wasn't just a goodbye kiss. It was a kiss to make up for all the days they could never have together, a possible future by each other's side but they were taken away from each other - doomed to live in separate worlds.

It was her father's words that brought her out of her trance-like state from the kiss. "My daughter, you have a choice to go with the kings and queens of old into their world or stay in this one. You can come home, you are forgiven." Aslan took a step closer to his daughter, giving her a slight nod.

Almost immediately, she answered, her words falling out of her lips like poison. "I have no home. You took my home away from me the day you banished me here with no hope of survival. But I survived for five hundred years, and I'm not going throw that away now." Anya looked at her father then at Peter, her eyes locked with his before she looked away, blinking back her tears. "I know where my loyalties lie, father. My people need their princess." She nodded her head once, pulling her necklace off her neck before thrusting it into Peter's hand.

"Where will you go now?" Peter asked, his hand clasping the necklace Anya had placed inside it.

"I'm unsure now but I'll find my way home, wherever that is. Don't worry about me, High King Peter. I'm a survivor, I can handle this." She pressed one last kiss to his lips before she turned away from the scene. She walked through the crowd, forcing everyone to move to the side to let her through.

A single tear slowly made its way down Anya's cheek as she reached the end of the crowd, she wanted to look back and maybe even change her mind and go with the Pevensies but she knew that she couldn't abandon those she loved in her own land for someone she might never see again. She forced a smile as she made her way out of the castle gates, back towards the woods and her people, never looking back.

The last thing the Narnians heard of Anya before she left was a battle cry; echoing through the silent woods, reaching all of their ears and they all knew that it would be the last time they would hear of Anya again and it was for many centuries to come. But the stories kept coming about Anya, the warrior princess who was given the chance to live with the Kings and Queens of old but gave it up to stay with her people. Her loyalty became famous all across Narnia, to the point where King Caspian placed a marble statue of the princess beside his statue of the great lion.

You may think this is the end of the story but for Anya and Peter, but you're wrong, it was only just the beginning. After the events of the Pevensies returning to their own world, Anya went back to Archenland and was soon crowned Queen until she gave up her crown to go back to Narnia and to visit other countries such as Telmar and Calormen - while others claim she abandoned her people after she refused to marry any suitors that came her way. Anya was there at the final battle of Narnia, alongside her father and had a bittersweet meeting with the Pevensies and ended up following them into Aslan's Country.

And thus, the stories of their true adventures began.


	4. Last First Love

Anya was celebrating the coming of the harvest with her people when she heard the news of the war that was starting in Narnia. She had tried to keep her people safe by ignoring the oncoming war but now that Narnia was requesting help from its ally, she couldn't ignore it any longer. She left the festivities, only saying she had a few things she needed to discuss with her staff while in reality; she was going into her study to look over the letters that had been sent to her as a distress signal from Narnia.

At first Anya ignored them since she wanted to distance herself from Narnia after what happened with the Pevensies and her father but with her feelings to the side, Anya couldn't turn her back on Archenland's ally. Narnia needed help and she was in no position to turn her back on alliances. That was what she was taught while she was being trained all those years ago.

Looking out of the windows in her study, Anya was strangely calm and slow with her movements as she opened her window to look at the many innocent people enjoying the festivities. The most recent letter from Narnia was in her hands, telling her that if she didn't send help, Narnia would fall within the next few weeks. Anya was placed into a hard place, she wanted to send troops to Narnia to help their allies but she needed those same troops defending their borders and protecting the innocent men, women and children that were in need.

It was then when a servant - Bowyar - knocked on the door and slipped into the room, bringing with him another letter in his hands. "Your majesty, we have reports of more soldiers from Calormen trying to breech our walls and I'm sorry but we cannot hold them out any longer, all efforts of keeping them out have failed. They will be here in a matter of hours. It's time to leave Archenland; it is no longer safe for you."

Anya turned to face Bowyar, tears streaming down her cheeks as she turned her back to the window. "What will happen to everyone else? Is there a way to get them somewhere safe?"

"I'm sorry... the lucky ones will be slaughtered within the first three hours."

"So that's just it; I abandon my people and my home to fight in a war I never asked or wanted to be a part of?"

"Anya, you don't have a choice. If you stay here, you'll die and you'll be remembered as the coward who didn't fight in a war, who chose to stay behind and die with her people."

Anya's tears dried, anger rising within her once she heard Bowyar call her a coward. "I am no coward. I will go, prepare my horse and tell no-one of my departure and make sure nobody sees. I will be in my chambers when you are ready."

Bowyar bowed his head, leaving the letter on Anya's desk before leaving the room. Anya didn't even bother opening the letter before she left the room, already knowing inside her heart what it would say; Narnia has fallen, you are needed far more urgently than we originally expected. Please come and save us, Anya. Just like you did when Miraz was in control, come in and get us out of our troubles.

Arriving at her chambers, Anya peeled off her dark red dress and let it pool around her ankles. For once in what seemed like forever, Anya wore a dress but that was only for the festivities despite many of her advisors telling her that if she was a queen, she had to dress and act like one. Something Anya ignored time and time again, spending more time in her battle armour than any dress.

She dressed into her battle armour with a large black cloak over the top and placed her hair into her usual multiple braids before she started pacing around her room, looking for things she wanted to take with her. A part of her wanted to bring her crown, to represent the country she loved so much and the lives she was failing to save. But she didn't, it would bring back memories of the life that was ripped away from her far too quickly.

In the end, Anya only took a notebook filled with various drawings of people she knew but most pages were filled with portraits of Peter; even after all that time, Anya still loved him and cared for him. Aside from the notebook, Anya also took a small make-up kit for battle then that was it, she wanted to take as little things as possible so she wouldn't be noticed when she left although she still felt like a coward for running away.

A quiet knock on her door brought Anya back from her thoughts, revealing Bowyar who quickly ran over to his queen. "Anya, everything's ready. We have to move." He grabbed Anya's hand and both rushed down towards the stables, making sure they were as quiet as possible to avoid being spotted. On the way down, Bowyar handed Anya her sword and a small dagger to hide in her boots in case of an emergency.

Once they arrived at the stables without detection, Anya forced back her tears as she gave Bowyar a tight hug, hiding her face in the crook of his neck for a moment before pulling away. "Will I ever see you again?"

Bowyar gave Anya a shaky smile, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I hope we do, your majesty. It truly has been an honour to serve you, now go. Narnia needs you."

"May we meet again." Anya told him as she climbed onto her horse, taking a shaky breath as she held onto the reins of her horse with one hand while the other placed her hood over her head.

Bowyar gave her a nod before slapping the horse into a gallop. "May we meet again." He muttered to himself as he watched the figure of Anya and her horse disappear into the darkness.

 **~#~**

It was early to mid-morning by the time Anya finally stopped to let her horse rest, even though she really didn't want to stop until she was with Tirian, the king of Narnia and who had sent the multiple letters to her for help. She leaned against a tree and sat down on the grass while she watched the horse eating closely. She knew they couldn't stay long due to how dangerous Narnia and now Archenland are from the Calormen army.

She'd thought of sleeping but it wasn't safe, she would sleep once she got to Tirian's camp and then she would be safer to sleep with many soldiers around her in case something bad would happen. Despite being completely exhausted from an almost twelve hour horse ride and her eyes beginning to droop, Anya refused to sleep. She had to stay on high alert in case trouble came their way, and she needed to be prepared for that.

Just as Anya was about to slip into sleep, she heard Calormen soldiers coming towards her, the sound of their chainmail echoing through the silent forest. Within seconds, Anya stood up to grab her belongings and run to her horse. But by the time she arrived, the horse was already gone. Something had obviously spooked it and the horse had completely gone. "Fuck," she muttered under her breath before she threw off her cloak and started sprinting away from the soldiers.

She kept running deeper and deeper into the forest and didn't stop at anything, even when branches and thorns tugged and pulled at her skin and clothes, she kept going. She ignored the pain coming from all areas of her body and she just kept running until she reached the edge of a cliff, her body sliding to a halt. She looked around her for another way down but she found nothing, the only way down was to jump and that was going to hurt. This would either kill her or leave her with permanent injuries; but whatever happens, it would hurt. A lot.

Turning around to check where the soldiers were and that did nothing but make her panic more since she could still hear their voices coming nearer. She turned back around before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes and finally just let go and felt her whole body become weightless as she fell. Slowly, she opened her eyes just as she was about to collide with some rocks, she grabbed onto the side of the cliff, slowing her down but causing multiple cuts on her hands.

In that moment, she wanted to scream and cry from the pain but she had to force them back so she could climb down safely. With tears in her eyes, Anya slowly climbed down the side of the cliff, landing on her feet at the bottom. Once she was safely down, Anya looked at her hands that were now covered in blood and had deep and painful cuts across them. That was when Anya finally allowed herself to cry; over all her people who would be dead and how she could have saved them, if she had been a little bit faster. But now she was completely alone and probably the only person from Archenland left alive; broken, bruised and in pain but alive all the same.

After her crying fit, Anya stood up and started walking in the direction she hoped Trinian would be. She knew she was starting to lose consciousness from how much blood she had lost but she had to keep going, even if it would kill her. She needed to get to Trinian and save his country from their enemies; alliances and loyalties came first then personal wellbeing's and problems came last. It was the unspoken code between rulers that they were told from day one, and they had to abide by it in order to get a country that would survive against all odds.

After what felt like an eternity of walking and stumbling through the dense woods, Anya finally heard people talking. Pausing at a tree, she quickly got her sword out, quickly ignoring the pain in her hands and her feet. She quietly started to make her way towards the voices. Just as she was prepared to start her attack, she listened into what the voices were saying. More specifically, who the voices were calling each other; _Edmund, Lucy, Peter and Trinian_.

"Peter?" Anya called out, dropping her sword as she ran towards the group, finally allowing her emotions to get the best of her and she almost burst into another crying fit.

"Anya!" Peter almost shouted as he ran over to her, their lips crashing together as they collided and their arms wrapping around each other tightly, as if they were afraid of the other disappearing within seconds.

Anya had been dreaming of these moments ever since she left Caspian's castle all those years before. Peter - her Peter - had come back to her. It seemed all those years of sleepless nights and dreaming of his face was worth it, he was back and hopefully this time, they would be together for longer. But the thoughts of his leaving came back into her mind and she couldn't stop them, the moment of goodbye was inevitable but she knew that she just had to appreciate every moment she got to spend with him.

"Is this normal for these two?" Tirian asked after a few moments of awkward silence, leaning over towards Lucy who was trying her hardest to ignore what was going on between her oldest brother and one of her friends.

"No, they haven't seen each other in eight years in our time; I don't know how long it's been for Anya. But I think we should let them have their moment." She whispered back, taking the shoulders of the boys and forcing them to turn around to give the couple more privacy.

Back with Anya and Peter, they'd pulled apart slightly but kept their arms securely around the other. "And here's me thinking you didn't like me like you used to."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, High King. There's only ever been you. After all this time, it's only been you who has been in my mind." A small smile came onto her lips before she pressed them to his for a moment before pulling away and releasing Peter from her grasp.

Anya quickly noticed Lucy and ran towards her with her arms out stretched, giving Lucy a tight hug. "It's been far too long since I've seen you. I simply wish I could've been there on your voyage to the end of the world, but my people needed me so alas I could not come but I missed you all the same, Valiant Queen."

Anya moved onto Edmund, giving him a tight hug before releasing him, much to the discomfort of the Just King. "Who are these two? I don't believe I've met them."

"Oh, this is our cousin Eustace and his friend Jill. And this is Anya, Queen of Archenland." Edmund introduced, taking a step away from Anya, Eustace and Jill to give them space to talk and properly get to know each other.

Jill couldn't help but smile once she took a look at Anya, although she did imagine Queen Anya to be different; in a dress and crown, perhaps. But she wasn't disappointed. In fact, she rather liked Anya and thought she was very beautiful but she was a far cry from Susan, who would always be one of the most beautiful people she'd ever met. "You're a queen? Where's your king?"

"I don't have one; well, I sort of have High King Peter but we're not married if that's what you mean. I rule or rather ruled over Archenland alone." Anya's heart skipped a beat when she had to correct herself to say she ruled over Archenland, since by now, it had probably been burned to the ground and all her people had been slaughtered in cold blood.

"What happened in Archenland?"

Anya chocked a sob, falling to her knees as she saw the horizon turning a dark orange from the endless fires that were burning, instantly thinking of Bowyar and everyone she had left behind to be slaughtered back in Archenland. "They burned it to the ground, killed everyone in their sight, they came for me but I had already gone, but they found me anyway. That was when I got all my cuts and bruises; I was running for my life to get here."

Peter ran to Anya's side, his arms wrapping around her shoulders tightly before pressing a kiss to the side of her head. He kneeled down to face her, holding her face in his hands. "You're okay, you're safe now. I won't let anyone or anything hurt you again, I promise," he whispered before bringing Anya into his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head. "How long have you been waiting for our return, Anya?"

Anya turned her head towards Peter, tears still dropping down her cheeks. "It has been 252 years since I have last laid eyes upon you. They told me that you would never come back but I guess I was too stubborn to let you go." Anya smiled a little then, standing up to walk back to the group, wiping away her tears as she did. "Where is Trinian? It is incredibly important that I speak with him."

"Right here, your majesty," Trinian took a step forward, taking Anya's hand and pressed a gentle kiss to it. "We have been awaiting your arrival, your majesty. We were starting to believe you had died along with your people."

Anya almost snapped her hand back to her side. "Yes, well. You could've waited until the harvest festivities had been over. But no matter of that now, you wanted me here to help you with the war against Calormen. I need to see your army and your battle plans."

Trinian nodded, "of course, your majesty. Right this way." He walked through the trees towards the camp, followed closely by Anya and everyone else in the group.

Anya was escorted through the Narnian camp, causing some of the Narnian army to shout things at her, telling her that she had no place within their camp and fighting by their side and to go back to Archenland to burn with the rest of her country while others simply told her she was a harlot and was only there to give King Trinian pleasure. Anya kept a tight grip on her sword as she walked through the camp, keeping her eyes glued on the back of Trinian's head. Being shouted at by people who had no idea what they were doing was one thing but to be told to burn like the people she loved took it a step too far, but she had to keep her anger hidden and contained until the battle would begin. "When you'll be screaming for mercy, you'll be grateful that you have me. So until then, keep your goddamn mouths shut and suck it up. If I hear one more voice telling me to go back, I will tear you limb from limb and serve your body for dinner." Was all she told the army before disappearing into Trinian's tent.

 **~#~**

After the meeting with Trinian, Anya walked out of the tent; the Narnian army gave a loud cheer once they noticed her. "Jus drein jus daun!" **(Blood must have blood!)** She declared to the army, raising her sword. "The dead will be avenged, we will destroy the Calormen army and we will take back what is ours." The Narnian army cheered loudly before chanting Anya's previous sentence, echoing the same words over and over until the woods were echoing their shouts.

Lucy tapped Anya's shoulder before whispering "What are they saying?" Into her ear, watching the army before them.

Anya placed her sword back into its holder before answering. "Blood must have blood; it's sort of a battle cry where I come from. When we go to war, it's to avenge the fallen so that's where the saying comes from."

Lucy nodded after understanding what they were saying, slowly joining in with the chanting with a whisper until she was screaming it along with Anya until they couldn't shout any longer. That was when Anya went back into her tent, with Lucy and Jill in hot pursuit. Anya placed her small bag of make-up and her notebook on the table before she sat down on the floor and stared at the wall, she quickly noticed Lucy and Jill. "What do you want? To tell me that I don't belong in your war? Or maybe even better, maybe to kick me out?"

Jill was slightly taken aback by Anya's words but she took a deep breath before kneeling down in front of the Queen. "I - I mean we - wanted to know if you could do our hair like yours, teach us some Aadmari and make us look like you; a warrior."

Anya couldn't help but smile a little at Jill's request before she nods her head and stands back up. "Sure, if you want to. You can be my warrior sisters; although you can't cry if you get hurt, your victims cry, you don't. Warriors are as strong as their swords." She told them; bringing Jill into a chair so she could start styling Jill's hair and teach Lucy some Aadmari.

After around an hour, the three of them walked out of the tent, the soldiers getting out of the way of them as they walked to find Trinian. One soldier tried to grab Jill but Anya punched him clean in the face to get him off. "Em ste ai gona, natrona." **(She is my warrior, traitor.)** She told him sternly before she moved her grip onto Jill's arm and the trio continued their trip towards Trinian.

Once they had found him, Anya took a seat on the grass beside him, Lucy and Jill followed close behind her. "Have they attacked yet? Sent any kind of message? What the hell is going on?"

"That is exactly what I want to know, Anya. They're just standing there, nothing seems to be going on and I'm getting concerned." Trinian answered, his arms folding across his chest as he looked down at Anya for a moment before looking back at the Calormen army. "Wait, I see three soldiers coming this way. It could be a peace offering."

Anya's eyes narrowed as she stood up, Lucy and Jill following after her. "Chit dula op yu gaf kom dula op, heda kwin?" **(What do you want to do, commander queen?)** Lucy asked, taking a step closer to Anya.

"It looks like a general with two other soldiers; kill the general, spare the others. I have a plan."

 **~#~**

Anya tied the Calormen general to an apple tree, her eyes locked onto his as she removed her sword from its holder, the blade gliding over her fingers as she pursed her lips together. "You might as well say your prayers now and pray your god will have mercy on your soul once I've finished with you."

"You're going to kill me with that sword? Listen, sweetheart, that sword won't do shit." He laughed awkwardly, fighting against his bonds as he looked at his companions as if to say; "help me; this psycho is going to kill me".

"Oh, I'm not gonna kill you with my sword," Anya almost chuckled to herself as she placed her sword down on the grass beside her feet before getting a small dagger out of her boot and leaning closer to the general, the blade inches away from his throat. "I'm going to cut your heart out of your chest, eat it and then let you bleed to death. That's how I'm going to kill you."

"You're completely insane. You should be the one tied up here. I didn't even have anything to do with what happened to Archenland."

"Oh darling, I'm completely sane. I was raised with warriors, and that is how we deal with traitors and prisoners of war where I come from. So suck it up, and hope you die quickly, it's easier that way. Although, I would prefer if you died a slow and painful death; so you would understand how much it hurts when you lose something you care about and you feel as if your heart has been ripped out of your chest. But in your case, your heart will literally be ripped out of your chest." Anya started removing the general's body armour and clothes until his chest was bare. "Nontu beja wigod op ai gon chit ai souda dula op." **(Father please forgive me for what I must do.)** She muttered under her breath as she tightened her grip on her knife before she forced it into the general's chest.

Ignoring the agonizing screams from the general, she cut a clean circle on his chest, directly over his heart. Cutting into his chest, she ripped out his heart and instantly feeling her face and arms being coated with blood but she didn't care; if she was seen as a savage, she'd be one. She took a deep breath to look into the eyes of the general then she took one huge bite. Blood rushed down Anya's face and chin, dropping onto her clothes and to the grass beneath her. The dark red liquid filled her lips, staining her teeth into a black mess as she devoured the still warm heart. The rusty taste of blood filled her mouth and left a bitter taste in her mouth, she'd done it multiple times before in Archenland but she still hated the taste.

After she'd consumed the heart, the whole Narnian army cheered as Anya stood up, the blood trailing down her neck and chest. She walked back to the two soldiers, who had both gone as white as snow, her arms folding over her chest. "Go tell your commander that if he wants a war, then he'll get one. Oh, and tell him what happened to your friend, I think that'll motivate him to think."

When the two soldiers were released and ran as fast as they could back to their camp, the real war began. The Narnian army could hear the battle cry from the Calormen army, knowing that even with Anya's threats; they were still going to have a war which would lead to more bloodshed. Anya picked up her sword, walking over to Lucy and Jill to give them a tight hug and a kiss on the sides of their heads. "Whatever happens, just know that I am so proud of both of you."

None of them cried, they just held onto each other until they were told to prepare for the Calormen army that was sprinting towards them. Anya stood beside Peter, the blood completely dry on her body and made her look as if she'd covered herself in paint rather than blood. She linked her fingers around his thumb, leaning against him slightly. "If we die here, just know that my heart was always yours. And know that I love you, Peter. I will love you until the last breath leaves my lips." She pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek to stop her from crying before the Calormen army closed in on them and Anya got her sword into its correct position for fighting.

The battle wore on, but quickly Anya noticed that peter wasn't by her side like he was. Quickly she noticed him near the edge of the battlefield, she quickly beheaded a soldier that was in front of her before she ran after Peter, who had retreated off the battlefield and back to camp and threw his sword beside the fire. She couldn't believe he had given up, that wasn't something Anya remembered on the battlefield against the Telmarines. "Ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim." **(Get knocked down, get back up.)** Was all she said before she threw her blood soaked sword down besides Peter's. "Narnian's don't give up, we fight. Either you get up and we fight this together, or you crawl away and die alone like a coward." Anya was fighting back her tears by that point, hiding her face in her hands. "I waited for you and this is what I get? Where's the High King I fell in love with, huh? If he's gone, you might as well say your goodbyes now because I'll be going back to my people who need their queen."

Peter stood up then, his eyes locked with Anya's as he backed her against a tree and pressed his lips to hers with more passion than he ever did. The tension between them was reaching boiling point simply from that one kiss, Anya's heart skipped several beats as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

But before the kiss could go any further, Peter pulled away. "I love you, Anya. And I would happily spend the rest of my life with you. But this warrior queen bullshit has to stop. You're a queen, yes. But eating people's hearts and practically bathing in their blood? That's not something I want to rub off on my siblings. I'm not sure your father will be too happy once he sees what you've done with your kingdom and your crown."

Anya shook her head, sighing as she picked up her sword. "I want to be the girl I used to be but the girl who ate the heart was the girl you fell in love with. She just wasn't in charge, so she didn't do it. In Archenland, eating someone's heart was a way of dealing with grief so you'd eat the person's heart that killed the one you loved so they'd know what it felt like. But I think we should get back to saving Trinian's country."

Once Anya and Peter had returned to the battlefield, it looked as if a bomb had exploded. There were bodies and remainders of campfires everywhere, both of them unknowing who was still alive and who were part of the many people who had died. Their ears filled with the desperate cries for help from the wounded and dying soldiers along with the sound of swords clashing together.

Anya's face went pale as she held on tightly to Peter's arm while they walked through the battlefield of death; she'd been in many battles and seen death before but she'd never seen anything like this - this wasn't a battle, this was an extermination and they succeeded in their plans.

By the time Aslan came to take them into True Narnia, Anya was ready to let go of Narnia and what was left of Archenland so she could start over again with Peter. She placed a hand on Aslan's mane as she walked through the door to True Narnia, saying a silent goodbye as she saw Peter close the door behind them.

"Now what, Earth Boy?" She asked; her hand dropping from her father's mane so she could talk to Peter face to face in the bright and warm sunlight, a wide smile etched onto her lips.

"Well, since we have forever, you get to choose, Sky Girl." Peter mirrored her smile, his arms wrapping around her waist as he pulled her in for a kiss.

Anya and Peter's love continued for the rest of their lives, but that's another story.


	5. Forever Starts Now

It had been a month since Anya and the Pevensies came into True Narnia and Anya still hadn't spoken to her father, instead spending her time in the woods and making bows and arrows and traps – just to distract her from the important issues that needed to be addressed. She was still in Queen of Archenland and warrior mode – you put bandages over your issues and pretend they're not there, they got in the way of the important things and nobody had time to deal with your personal issues. That was how she was trained in Archenland, and it would take her a long time to learn how to get out of it and go back to being the girl she used to be.

But Anya didn't want to go back to being the girl she used to be; weak, pathetic and above all, a child. She didn't want to go back to being her, but she did want to stop being the warrior queen since there was no need for her to be one but it was all she knew. She didn't know how to live her life any other way; it was a warrior or it was nothing. She missed Archenland, too. The old one. She wanted to return to her home and she knew she'd have to wait, but Anya wasn't in a patient mood.

Her fingers traced over the engraving on her sword, wondering if she went to Archenland, she'd see Shylton once more. She wanted to see him again; he was among the very few she trusted and even fewer that she respected. All the things she had been through with him stuck inside her brain, reminding her of one of the many things she had lost far too quickly.

The only thing that brought Anya out of her trance was Lucy nagging her about giving everyone a tour of the castle she once called home, and despite Anya's protests, she finally did it. And almost an hour later, the group – which consisted of The Pevensie's and Trinian – was in the middle of a guided tour around the extensive castle that belonged to Aslan.

The group were looking at multiple different portraits hung in one of the long halls connecting the library to one of the hundreds of other rooms. "That's her," Anya told the group, pointing to a portrait of a woman who looked similar to Anya but had dark green eyes instead of blue. "That's my mother. Then next to her that was me a few weeks before I was banished."

"You looked so different." Lucy commented, a hand placing on the golden frame of the portrait.

A small smile came onto Anya's lips as she thought about how different she looked in such a short space of time. "I was a different person then; I had no boundaries or sense of self back then. I was just beginning to understand the world when I was banished. But now I'm thankful that I was, I learned so many things and of course, I met my real family and I don't regret that at all, and I don't think I ever will."

Before Anya could go onto the next portrait, a servant interrupted her and gave Anya a low bow. "Your Highness, there's someone here to see you. He says his name is Shylton and-" The servant didn't even have time to finish what he was saying because by the time the name Shylton reached Anya's ears, she was already racing down the hall towards her visitor.

Tears were already starting to fall down her cheeks as she collided and gripped onto Shylton's body. Within moments, both of them were in tears and desperately hugging each other, refusing to let the other go. It had been far too long since they last saw each other; both of them had changed since they last looked at each other both physically and mentally. Shylton buried his face into Anya's hair, pressing endless kisses to the side of her head, almost as if he was her father.

Once they finally pulled apart, Shylton placed his hand on her cheek, forcing himself to smile through his tears. "Look how big you are, you're practically a queen."

Anya shook her head, laughing away her tears. "I was queen of Archenland back in old Narnia, but all I wanted was to have you back."

Shylton laughed too, his hand dropping from Anya's face. "I always knew you'd be a queen; even when I met that sarcastic little shit in the woods all those years ago."

By that point, the group had followed Anya to Shylton and Lucy tried to pry them apart. "Anya, you haven't told us about your friend here."

Anya's smile faced slightly as she turned to Lucy. "Of course, how rude of me; everyone, I'd like you all to meet Shylton; my mentor, my protector, my father and my rock. Shylton, I'm sure you know who my friends are."

Shylton gave a low bow to the kings and queens as Anya quietly excused herself, walking back up the stairs and towards the hallway. She paused at a door, bringing out a key from a pocket in her dress to unlock the door so she could slip inside.

The room was filled with glass balls that all gave out their own light source; illuminating the room in a rainbow of colours. Anya moved through the room, her fingertips gently touching the glass orbs as she walked past them. She arrived at what appeared to be a sink except there were no taps to turn on water. Looking in the mirror, Anya noticed the figure of Lucy standing in the door way. "You're not allowed to be in here."

"What the hell is this place?" Lucy demanded, storming over towards Anya, almost knocking over a whole shelf of glass orbs on her way over.

"This is my Wonderland. It's filled with memories. I keep all the memories from all the years I've lived in here, I visit them sometimes. But nobody is allowed in here, how did you get in?"

"The door was open..."

"So you thought it would be okay to know my secrets and things I've tried to forget? There's a reason why I keep this place locked up, Lucy." Anya turned around to face Lucy, taking her hand and leading her towards a wardrobe, grabbing an orb on her way. She let go of Lucy's hand to insert the orb into the side of the wardrobe before taking her hand once more. "This is one of my darkest memories," she told Lucy before she brought the both of them inside the wardrobe – which was more like a door to another room; the orb playing the memory like a film played through a projector.

"Oh my god," Lucy whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. "This is the day you did it, the day you killed your mother and the day you were banished to Narnia. I don't think I can watch this."

"You have to. Once you start a memory, you have to watch the rest."

A younger Anya skipped through the halls with a hardback book in her hands, looking behind her for anyone following after her before she ran into a room and locked the door behind her. She placed the book in the middle of the room; several plates of brightly coloured powder surrounded her as she opened the book to a certain page and read a passage from it;

"Darkened spirits, I call to you

To do something I will never do.

I ask of you to take a soul, who means so much,

Take them away from my touch.

Take that one who cased me pain away,

Listen to me, I pray.

I will give you my soul,

Even if this will take its toll.

Kill her, kill her now,

I am your servant and I will take my bow."

After she spoke, she sat on the floor and bowed her head before covering herself in the powder, throwing it around herself and the room. After a few moments of silence, a bloodcurdling scream was heard followed by silence. Anya stood up and bolted out of the room, towards numerous servants that surrounded a woman's body on the floor.

"I'm so sorry, your highness. It's your mother, she's dead." Then the memory ended, the orb appearing in Anya's hand before she left the wardrobe, Lucy following after her.

"This place, your Wonderland; it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Lucy admitted, a hand resting upon one of the shelves.

Anya chocked back a sob, turning to face the Valiant Queen. "This is not beautiful. This whole room is filled with ghosts of people I knew and loved; Shylton, my mother, Pygott, Bowyar… all of them, they're dead. All because of me. And that's not including the hundreds of people I killed on battlefields." She shook her head to herself, picking up another orb from the shelf and holding it in her hand. "I want to show you something; this is what happened when I first came to Archenland."

Grabbing Lucy's hand, the pair walked back into the wardrobe and watched the memory of what Anya did to the commander of Archenland when she first arrived, but she didn't show Lucy why she killed him – it was something that after all the years, was still fresh in her mind and would rather forget, or try to, at least. Once the memory was over, neither of them said anything as they both walked out of the room, Anya locking the door behind them, never speaking to each other or anyone what they saw.

 **~#~**

Several days later, Anya lay on the grass, staring up at the sky as a sea of flowers surrounded her. She didn't want to talk or see anyone; she just needed silence and time to think about everything that had happened. Everything she had worked so hard for back in old Archenland suddenly had no meaning and had no purpose; in True Narnia, there was no need for weapons, no need for warriors... everyone lived in peace. Which meant Anya was useless without everything she knew about fighting and being a warrior – that was who she was and without it, she was nothing... a nobody.

While Anya was alone, Shylton was spending time with the Pevensie siblings, talking about anything and everything. Then the conversation grew quiet, only to be changed dramatically by Edmund. "How old was she when she was banished?"

Shylton took a heavy breath before answering, not sure if Anya would appreciate him telling her life story but it was one that needed to be told. "She was just twelve years old when I first met her about a month after she was banished; she was dying of starvation, going insane from isolation and I saved her life that day. By the time we got to Archenland, she had turned thirteen and that was when she killed our commander because he raped her and she didn't want him to live with what he had done or have someone else go through what she did. Even at that age, she was thinking like a warrior and acting like a girl twice her age, it scared everyone a little. Then she was ready to lead an army by the age of fifteen, then she found you guys when she was seventeen and now, she's back here at twenty. I've had to live without the girl I considered my daughter for so many years, so you can imagine my urgency to be with her and protect her from anyone and anything that would hurt her."

Peter clenched his jaw together, licking his lips. "We won't hurt her, sir."

"You might not intentionally hurt her, but I know Anya better than I know myself. As long as you don't force her into something she doesn't want, she'll be fine. But mark my words; that girl is dangerous. She could kill someone within the blink of an eye – I've seen it. Don't underestimate her; you'll regret it when she's lodged a sword into your chest."

The room fell silent once more for a while, everyone taking in what Shylton had said before Lucy spoke up, speaking to nobody in particular. "She's a ticking time bomb. One wrong move and she explodes, destroying everything in her path. An explosion is inevitable, but something we have to be prepared for. All that pain inside of her, that's what we should be afraid of. The level of pain she's been through is a dangerous mix along with the anger of things she can't control – don't be surprised if she blows in the next few days."

 **~#~**

After what seemed like forever, Anya came back inside the castle, her skin slightly tanned from the warm sun. She was about to go to her room when she passed a slightly opened door with her father and Shylton talking inside. Stopping outside the door, Anya started listening in.

"She thinks that because of everything she's done, she's changed. But she's still just a child." Aslan proclaimed; his shoulders heavy with the burden of what had happened between him and his only child.

"You're wrong, Aslan. She stopped being a child the day you sent her down to Narnia to die." Silence fell over the pair before Shylton spoke up once more. "She waited for you, you know. She waited for you to allow her to come back for over five hundred years, and then she realized that you were never going to bring her back. That's why she hasn't spoken to you; she still doesn't believe that she's been forgiven. I don't even think she's forgiven you for doing that to her. I know I wouldn't if I was her, I don't think I'd ever forgive someone."

A small smile came onto Anya's lips as she listened to Shylton, grabbing the nearest bouquet of flowers to her. Listening to the words of her father, she decided to visit her mother's grave – something she'd put off for several weeks. She quietly walked through the gardens, a large bouquet of flowers in her hands. She reached a large apple tree with a gravestone in front of it before she sat down, placing the flowers beside the stone. She traced the words engraved upon it "Carew – Queen of True Narnia. Died; 23rd April, aged 47. A loving wife, mother and queen who was taken from us far too soon". Ever since she had returned, Anya had lost count of how many times she had read and re-read those words.

Taking a shaky breath, Anya wrapped her arms around the gravestone and began sobbing. "I miss you so much, mummy. I'm sorry I did this to you. I want you back so much, I need you."

After crying into the gravestone for several moments, she sat back to think about her final moments she had with her mother. Then the thought dawned on her. If she could take away life as easily as she did, surely she would be able to give life back the same way. Wiping her tears away with the skirts of her dress, she stood back up and sprinted back into the castle and towards the library.

Once she arrived in the library, she grabbed the nearest book about spells that came within her grasp, opening it to a page that gave back life. After reading the spell a few times, she took a deep breath before speaking;

"As a lost soul I have come here,

To ask of you to give back a soul I love so dear.

My heart is broken,

So I ask of you to give me back my token.

The love I lost,

I need to feel her touch.

I pray you give me back my mother, Carew."

A few moments passed and nothing happened, so Anya closed the book and allowed her tears to fill her eyes once more. The thought of knowing that she had failed to save her mother came back into her mind – a thought that hadn't been in there for nearly 700 years.

"Anya?"

A woman's voice brought Anya out of her crying state and made her head jerk up. She knew that voice... it couldn't be... no, this has to be a dream... "Mother?" Anya turned around and almost fell off the chair she was sat on. There she was, in the way she remembered her, her mother. That was when Anya started running towards her, her arms out stretched. Anya collided with her mother, giving each other a tight hug and crying into each other's arms. After almost a millennium apart, they were finally back together, where they should be.

 **~#~**

After Anya's mother had returned, Anya was on cloud nine. But the only thing that made her come down was Peter asking her if they could talk in private – which in Anya's mind meant he was ending whatever they had with each other, and something she reluctantly accepted.

Peter took Anya's hand and led her through the courtyard and into a quiet garden filled with every colour flower imaginable. Anya frowned as Peter stopped her right in the centre of it, dropping Anya's hand as he shakily dropped down on one knee, bringing out a small black box out of his pocket. "Anya, I love you with my whole heart and those eight years I spent without you were the worst years of my life and I never want to spend another second of my life without you in it. Would you please do me the extraordinary honour of marrying me?" A small smile came across his lips as he opened the box, revealing a diamond ring with blue diamonds placed inside of it – the colour Anya wore the day they met and the colour that explained their entire relationship.

A tear slowly made its way down Anya's cheek as she pressed a kiss to Peter's lips. "Yes," she whispered against his lips as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. She felt the ring slide onto her finger, then being scooped up into his arms. After everything they had been through, they could finally put it behind each other and start a new life as husband and wife.

The wedding of Queen Anya and High King Peter soon became the talk of True Narnia as soon as it was announced. Everyone was already talking about Anya's dress and what the wedding would be like.

All too soon, the big day arrived and Anya had mixed feelings. She was excited to finally be able to call Peter her husband but she was scared about not being able to live up to everyone's expectations of her. She was Aslan's daughter and that placed more pressure on her to look perfect and be as perfect as anyone could be.

Susan helped with Anya's hair and make-up, making sure her natural beauty was shown in all its glory. Her hair cascaded down her back in beautiful and perfect curls, while other parts were tied into braids so they wouldn't fall in her face, but added a small tiara to hold the veil in place. Lucy helped with Anya's dress and making sure the dress and the veil were in the right places.

Anya's dress was kept a secret from everyone but those who made it and Susan and Lucy; it was one of the best kept secrets anyone had ever done. Her dress was a strapless work of art; it was a traditional white but had dark blue flowers and diamonds sewn into it – the colour Anya wore the first time she and Peter met all those years ago. The dress fell down to below her feet but thankfully, she had a pair of light blue heels on her feet to stop her from falling over.

It was decided that Shylton would give Anya away since Aslan was conducting the ceremony and Shylton was the main father figure in her life while she was in Archenland and he taught her everything she knew; and after almost 700 years since they had been separated and been apart, she still loved him as a second father and they were still as close as they were back in Archenland.

Anya clutched onto the small bouquet of blue and red roses she had while she waited to be called for the wedding. That was when the nerves really started kicking in and she had to grip Shylton's arm to stop her from fainting from nervousness. Anya lived through many wars and never showed any fear but she never knew her wedding day would turn her into a nervous mess.

The moment arrived and Susan and Lucy quickly left Anya and Shylton to take their places in the hall, making Anya far more nervous than she was before. Shylton looked at her for a moment, holding onto her hand tightly. "Are you ready?" He asked, giving her fingers a comforting squeeze. Anya simply nodded before both of them finally walked into the hall, all eyes fell on Anya.

A tear came into Peter's eye as he looked at Anya, the only woman he'd ever loved. Their ceremony combined English and Archenlandian wedding ceremonies; their vows were English while the rings were placed on their fingers with Aadmari words spoken between them.

Anya was smiling so much, her cheeks hurt but she was happy; euphoric even. Peter never released her from his grasp, enjoying the feeling that Anya was finally his wife and they could finally start a new life together. All the things that happened between them when they were apart didn't seem to matter, all that mattered was that they were together and would never be apart.

During the reception, Anya and Peter sat on a long sofa, looking out onto the horizon before them. The sun was just beginning to set, illuminating the skies with an orange and pink haze. Between the pair, sat a half drank bottle of champagne which they would take in turns to take a sip out of it. After everything that had happened, they were content with silence. Nothing needed to be said between them because everything had already been said.

There came a knocking on the door, Anya almost forcing her husband to stay in his seat so she could answer it; only to find that it was her brother-in-law Edmund. "Ah, you two have your clothes on. Su was worried you two would've started the couple thing already."

Anya laughed awkwardly, hitting Edmund over the head. "Screw you, Ed! But seriously, what did you want?"

Edmund rubbed the back of his head where Anya had hit him, chuckling to himself. "Everyone's going down to the beach, do you want to come?"

Anya thought for a moment before racing across her room to grab her husband, squealing about going to the beach. Reluctantly, Peter went along with it, not wanting to upset his wife. The group made it down to the beach, racing each other and spraying each other in the salty water. Despite protests from Susan, Anya dove into the water, not wanting to miss out on any of the fun while she was still in her wedding dress. The sounds of their screaming and laughter could be heard for miles around; making Carew smile as she looked at her daughter and her new family have fun. She knew that her daughter made the right choice by marrying the High King; they seemed to be perfect for each other.

Anya was stubborn and Peter was, too. She thought he was barking mad, he thought she was positively insane. She was dramatic, he was dynamic. She was troubled, he was carefree. She was the warrior queen and he was the magnificent king – from two completely different worlds but they couldn't be more perfect for each other.

The festivities of the wedding continued for many days to come, and when it came around for Anya and Peter to go on their honeymoon, it was highly debated where they would go. Peter wanted to go to Archenland and see the place his wife loved so much, but Anya was highly against it since it brought up too many bad memories for her but she promised to take him there once the honeymoon was over and they would go back to their normal duties; Anya become queen once more and Peter becoming High King. Since Anya was the last queen of Archenland, she was quickly re-crowned and Peter later became King of Archenland beside his wife.

 **~#~**

Anya and Peter went on to have four children; Elizabeth, Christopher, Rosemary and Daniel. They were just as in love as they were when they got married all those years ago. Anya forgave her father and welcomed him back into her life permanently, and their relationship is stronger than ever.

Susan never married, but continued to help with various weddings and celebrations across True Narnia and even helped write stories for children learning about England and their customs.

Edmund had visited Archenland to see his brother and his new sister-in-law when he met Lovell, one of Anya's maids. The pair was often seen together, walking through gardens and the castle and talking about anything and everything for a few months until Edmund finally got the guts to ask her to marry him; which Lovell accepted at once.

Lucy became a nurse and helped with any form of medical emergency that was around, even helping with the births of Anya's children. After the birth of Anya's children, Lucy met a charming young traveller named Tabard and the pair quickly became smitten and a few weeks after their marriage, both packed up and went exploring the new world together.

Jill, Lucy and Anya were still as close as they were on the battlefield in Narnia, and consider each other as their non-biological sisters.

And at long last, Anya finally found her true home and didn't want to go back to being a warrior queen, she had finally let go of her past and was willing to move on and become a loving wife, mother and queen of a land she loved as much as the old Archenland.

And they all lived happily ever after;

THE END


	6. Their Commanding Queen

It had been six months since Peter decided to stay in Narnia and live with Anya in Archenland, he had been formally crowned as king beside Anya and the pair married in a traditional Archenlandian ceremony soon after. Although Peter was crowned king of Archenland beside Anya, he knew that she was in complete control over the country and being the commander was ranked higher than a king or queen, he was told that within the first few days of arriving in Archenland. He didn't mind it, though; he knew his wife was perfectly capable of leading her country without his help. He didn't want to interfere with her affairs, knowing that she knew what was best for her country far better than he did.

Anya was in a meeting with the ambassadors of Calormen, who were trying to persuade her to sign an agreement of peace between the two neighbouring countries, effectively becoming allies with Calormen. Anya – of course – was refusing, knowing full well that her alliance with Narnia would easily be destroyed once the alliance with Calormen was announced.

"Heda Onya kom Skaikru-" **(Commander Anya of the Sky People)** Ailemer – the ambassador of Calormen – spoke up, taking a step towards Anya as he did.

"Anya, what are they saying?" Peter whispered, leaning into his wife's ear to make sure only she could hear him.

"Gustus, beja." **(Please.)** Anya nodded towards Gustus who took a step forward to stand beside Peter and began muttering in his ear, translating the Aadmari into English for him. Anya looked back towards Ailemer, giving him a single nod. "Beja kyon." **(Please continue.)**

Ailemer cleared his throat before beginning again, giving a slight glare towards Peter before looking back towards Anya. "Heda Onya kom Skaikru en Arkulan, Brocas kom Sankru don konge yu krom gid em op-" **(Commander Anya of the Sky People and Archenland, Brocas of the Desert People wishes to celebrate—)**

Anya rolled her eyes as she listened to Ailemer's speech, her hand rising up to signal for him to stop. She stood up from her throne, her eyes narrowing at the ambassador. "Ai don nou Sen disha nodotaim, beja bants." **(I will not hear this again, please leave.)** Nodding his head, Ailemer began to pack up and leave but just as Ailemer was about to leave, Anya pulled him to one side. "Tel op em ai don biyo nou an krom nowe do disha nodotaim." **(Tell him I said no and to never do this again.)** She whispered into his ear before releasing him from her grasp, and watched him leave the room with the treaty in his hands, causing her to smirk a little to herself.

Afterwards, Anya retired to her chambers to take her mind off everything. Lying in bed next to Peter, the pair's hands laced together, content with silence until Peter spoke up. "Why do they say you're from the skies instead of being from Aslan's Country?"

Anya took a while to answer, moving in closer to her husband as she stared up at the ceiling before looking back at him. "When I came to Narnia after being thrown out of home for killing my mother, I came down from the skies as a fallen star and the commander thought it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen and demanded I was brought to him as a gift, and well you know how that happened after that."

 _ **~#~**_

When Anya awoke the next morning, the bed beside her was cold and empty. She didn't worry for too long, however, since she found a note from Peter saying that he went out for an early morning ride to ease the tension between him and some of the guards.

After dressing, Anya walked out of her room and towards the courtyard to wait for Peter to return. Instead of seeing her husband, Anya saw three of his guards sprinting towards the court, the fear in their eyes clear to her – even from far away.

Running towards the guard, she grabbed onto his collar to immediately ask him questions. "Where's Peter? What the hell happened?"

The guard was completely out of breath, and took several moments to catch his breath before answering his queen. "We were attacked, Heda. We barely made it out-"

"Where is my husband?"

"Heda-"

"Is he dead? Goddammit, just tell me." Anya was already feeling slightly lightheaded at the guard's words, feeling herself slowly lose grip on reality.

"We don't know; the last we saw of him was when he was being taken away by members of Sankru, he was unconscious but we don't know if he was dead the whole time."

"NO!" Anya screamed as her knees hit the floor hard, her tears blinding her as she collapsed in a heap on the stone floor. Without Peter, she was nothing. She needed him like she'd never needed someone before, and now that he was gone, there was no point in being alive. It was weakness, yes, but since this was her _**husband**_ she was crying about, she felt as if it was justified to completely fall apart.

 _ **~#~**_

Anya called for an emergency meeting with the court, her tears were gone and her commander mode was on, she didn't want them to know that she was virtually inconsolable over the matter. "Gentlemen, our king Peter has been taken by Sankru and we will get him back and return him to his rightful place and deliver justice for this act."

"Who will you send out to retrieve him, Heda?" Gustus asked, looking towards Anya.

Anya's jaw clenched together, her grip on her throne tightened. "Ai laik Heda. Non na throu daun gon ai." **(I am the Commander. No one fights for me.)**

"Heda, chit ste yu biyo?" **(Commander, what are you saying?)** Gustus frowned, taking a step towards Anya.

"Ai don gyon au." **(I will go.)** Anya stood up from her throne and took slow and single steps away from it. "Ai gaf in krom ge ma houmon bakon. Ai an non enes." **(I need to get my husband back. Me and no one else.)** She turned back towards Gustus, forcing her feelings to remain as indifferent despite her heart breaking. "I don't want anything that resembles royalty when we arrive; we will only take horses and nothing else." She gave one last nod towards the group before leaving the room to walk towards the stables.

Arriving at the tables, she immediately went towards her horse – Eben. "Hei Eben, shopta deyon?" **(Hello Eben, how are you today?)** She whispered, patting his neck before gathering her gear and preparing her horse to get her husband back from Calormen. She'd had Eben for years, and he was her first horse and she loved him dearly – it was safe to say that Eben was by far Anya's favourite out of all of them.

In total, only three guards and Gustus went to Calormen with Anya. If she had the choice, Anya would've gone on her own but since she was the commander, she needed to be protected at all costs by men who would willingly die for her, but she would also willingly die for them, too – their respect went both ways between each other.

 _ **~#~**_

It took two days of almost solid riding to get to Tashbaan, the capital of Calormen. Walking through the crowded streets, the group dismantled their horses and Anya left her horse with her guards, telling them that she would return with the king and to stay behind and wait while she walked into Harzelslack, Brocas's castle. Walking through the long and seemingly endless halls, Anya came across the throne room which had Brocas sitting on his marble throne.

One he noticed Anya; he stood up from his throne and began walking towards her, bringing himself to smile towards her. "The great Wanheda, we meet at last."

Anya rolled her eyes, her jaw clenching together. "Oh shut up, Brocas. We both know you're not one for kind introductions so tell me where my husband is so we can get it over with."

Brocas's smile faltered for a single second before it returned to him, hoping Anya wouldn't notice his minor slip up. "Ah, yes, I was wondering when you would come and get him. He's waiting for you downstairs, I'm sure you would love to see him, too."

Anya slowly walked backwards, her eyes fixed on Brocas for a moment before she quickly turned around and sprinted towards the nearest staircase that lead to the dungeon. She'd been to this castle many times before when she was trying to tell Calormen to stop fighting with every single nation and have a chance at peace but that peace never came and Anya was sure that she would never get peace, no matter how hard she tried.

The dungeons were dark and cold and falling apart with rubble and sand overtaking the entire room. Anya searched for her husband but couldn't see him from her angle so she crawled onto her hands and knees to see if she could find him there and eventually she did.

"Peter?" Anya whispered, crawling over the rubble to get to him before kneeling down beside him. "Peter, it's Anya. I'm here, you're safe." Her forced smile slowly started to fade as she gently brushed sand and dust from her husband's face, his eyes remaining closed and unmoving. "No… no please no, Peter wake up. Please wake up; come on, I can't do this without you."

Anya rested her forehead against Peter's, her tears dripping onto his face. "Please come back to me, you were going to be a father; I am with child, and I wanted to tell you the news after you got back but now it seems you'll never know." She pressed one last kiss to her husband's lips before burying her face in the crook of his neck, her arms gripping his body. She didn't want to leave him in there but she had to, Peter was dead and only his body remained.

Anya stumbled slowly out of the rubble and the castle, back into the harsh and unforgiving Calormen sunlight, trying to stop herself from crying again as she saw her group, and forced her lips into a smile.

"Where's the king?" One of the guards asked, taking a step towards Anya.

"He's gone, they killed him." Shaking her head, Anya held onto Gustus, sobbing into him. Gustus remained silent as he held onto Anya, knowing that she didn't want him to say anything while she was grieving the loss of her husband. The only reason she kept on living was Peter and now that he was gone, there was nothing left for her. But there was one last thing she needed to do before she left Calormen – she needed revenge for husband's death.

She asked for her men to retrieve her husband's body while she walked back inside the castle, bringing her sword out from its holder on her back. "Why?" Anya asked, her breath shaking. "Why did you do it?" Her footsteps echoed throughout the room, only stopping when she was inches away from Brocas.

Brocas sighed heavily, thinking for a moment before speaking up. "Two years ago, you killed my wife during the Battle of Crebad; so I took something of yours. Blood must have blood, am I right?"

Anya shook her head as she listened to his words, shocked at what she was hearing. He'd murdered her husband over something she had no control over; but he still blamed her for it. "Brocas, what happened to your wife was not me and you know it! I had nothing to do with the death of your wife-"

"But it was your men who killed her; they were under your command therefore, you are still responsible for her death, Anya. You truly live up to your name of Wanheda."

Anya shook her head, her grip on her sword tightening before she brought it up towards Brocas's chest. "Jus drein jus daun." **(Blood must have blood.)** Anya muttered as she sank her sword into Brocas's chest. She didn't eat his heart like all commanders did, she just wanted to watch the life leave his eyes and him knowing that she had won, and he had lost.

Anya left his body in his throne room, only bringing her sword out with her as she stepped out of the castle, noticing not just her people outside but Brocas's too. Forcing in a deep breath, she placed her commander face on to the people. "Ai Heda an haiplana Onya kom Skaikru en Arkulan en hainofi kom Trikru, gada imfou gon Sangedakru; disha ste wor! Yu haihefa fraga ai houmon, oso ogonzaun ste odon! Jus drein jus daun!" **(I commander and Queen Anya of the Sky People and Archenland and princess of Narnia, have a message for Desert People; this is war! Your king murdered my husband; our peace treaty is over! Blood must have blood!)**

 _ **~#~**_

After Anya returned to Archenland, a public funeral was held for the king and the whole country went into national mourning for four days, the usual routine if a member of high court passed away. As a sign of strength, Anya made an appearance at the funeral, holding onto Gustus's hand the entire time until it was over – but she had one last thing to say to her people before it was over. "Ai gonplei nou ste odon nowe." **(My fight is never over.)** Anya announced, forcing back her tears. Usually at a spouse's funeral, the widower would announce that their fight was over but Anya wanted to leave with one last strong remark before departing.

Anya never did kill herself by The Hanging Tree – a traditional Archenlandian custom for widowers to hang themselves if their spouses die in battle so they could be reunited in the afterlife. She instead decided to live to set an example for her people and nine months later, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy she named Shylton Peter Pevensie – after his father and the man who had saved his mother's life. Every day, Anya would read her son stories about his father, making sure that his memory was kept alive.

The war Anya declared upon Calormen lasted for many years and it was unlikely it would ever end but one day it did and peace was once again restored to Archenland and Calormen, but Calormen's new king was firmly warned by Anya that if he dared lay a hand on her family or any member of the royal family or court; his body would have to face the fate of a thousand deaths which included having his heart removed and eaten, burned alive, drowned in the deepest lake in Archenland and his head used as a battle trophy. Anya was also forced to sign a treaty that said that no member of the Calormen royal family is to be harmed during a war or any other matter and would live under the protection of Anya. Although she had to regularly enforce that promise, he never broke it and Anya never broke her treaty, knowing that it was far too risky to break it than to even attempt to have it removed.

Anya never remarried after the death of her beloved husband, instead spending almost all her time focusing on her son and making sure her country would be in a stable condition when she would decide to hand her throne down to her son.

After her son married a local girl named Bekah several months after he turned eighteen, Anya officially handed the throne over to her son and allowed both him and his new wife to rule over Archenland as king and queen and announced that her son was her successor to being commander, letting her people know that she was officially stepping down from her duties of commander and queen – something that was rare due to the only way to announce the new commander was the death of the previous one.

She later left Archenland initially to find and live in the infamous City of Light but finds Underland (known as Delfikru in Aadmari) instead and finds a new home underground. The legend goes is that Anya became the Lady of the Green Kirtle, although this was never confirmed nor denied so it remains simply legend; but a legend that was widely believed across Narnia and passed as the truth in the surrounded countries, including Archenland. But commander Shylton refused to believe a word of it, knowing that his own mother would never become someone or something so dark, even after everything she had been through in her life.

The end…


	7. Q&A

Q: Did you base Anya on someone you knew or was she someone completely made up?

A: She's a mixture of various characters I know of, she's got elements from characters like Harley Quinn, Octavia Blake and Alice Liddell but she's very much her own character.

Q: Did you plan on having four stories in the series or did they just come along with it?

A: At first, I just wanted to do one. But then I fell in love with Anya and I felt as if she deserved her own story arc and she got it. I didn't plan on four; I originally only wanted three to have the first story (Their Last Hope) and then the prequel and then the sequel. Last First Love came as something that I wanted to do since it showed the readers how Anya really was back in Archenland and how she'd grown from the starting point. Then Their Commanding Queen just came out of nowhere since it had been about a year since I'd written everything and I just missed the freedom that I had with Anya so I came back to it.

Q: How easy/hard is it to write the language of Aadmari?

A: Very hard because I needed to know what I wanted the characters to say and then I needed to see if there was a word for it and it's like that – it's a long process. It takes me probably around half an hour just to write two or three lines of dialogue in Aadmari.

Q: What alliances does Archenland have?

A: Narnia, The Lone Islands and Wild Lands of the North.

Q: In Their Commanding Queen, we see that every place in Narnia has its own name and name for the people in Aadmari; what are all the names and what are they?

A: Narnia is known as Trikru – Tree People since Narnia is almost all forested.

Archenland is known as Arkulan – Archenland.

Calormen is known as Sankru – Sand People since Calormen is almost completely desert.

Ettinsmoor is known as Azgeda – Ice Nation due to how cold it is.

Eastern Ocean is known as Floukru – Boat People since its all ocean; all people who live beyond the beaches are known as Floukru.

Aslan's Country is known as Skaikru – Sky People since Anya came down to Narnia in a shooting star, people assume anyone from Aslan's Country is from the skies.

The Wild Lands of the North are known as Yujleda – The Broadleaf Clan, due to the broadleaf was originally found there.

Underland is known as Delfikru – The Depths Clan due to being under the world, Bism is also known as Delfikru.

Telmar is known as Louwoda Kliron – Shadow Valley due to how far away it is and how dark it usually is.

Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve (people from Earth) are known as Ingranronakru – Plains Riders due to their ability to go through worlds.

Q: How does Anya age?

A: She ages once every hundred years. So when she arrives in Narnia, she's twelve almost thirteen years old and when she leaves it after the last battle, she's almost twenty years old and that took me a long time to figure out the timelines but after a lot of studying, I got it done.

Q: Who is your favourite secondary character?

A: Probably Shylton or Pygott, they're pretty awesome.

Q: Which story was the most satisfying to write?

A: Probably The Lion's Roar since that was the longest but it was the most fun since it was the origin story of Anya and we got to see her be a badass.

Q: Were there things you cut from the stories?

A: Yes, there are multiple things that were in the stories but I took them out. In The Lion's Roar, Anya was supposed to fall pregnant with Selwyn's child but it died a few weeks after being born – I cut it out because it didn't fit with the timeline although it was there pretty much since I started the story.

Q: How long does it take for you to write each story?

A: It depends, it could take anything from like three or four days to four months, it really does depend on what I'm writing about and where I am with the story.

Q: What will you do now that the Anya saga is over?

A: Well, I'll continue on various other fanfiction writing but I plan to get more into my original writing.

Q: What was the first piece of fanfiction did you write?

A: I wrote a piece for my English class and that was on The Outsiders and that's where I started, but my first proper one was a Twilight and Sucker Punch crossover. Looking back at it, it's really not as good as I thought it was.

Q: Will we see this Outsiders fanfiction?

A: I don't know, maybe. If people want to read it then I'd have to think about it.

Q: How old were you when you started writing fanfiction?

A: I was thirteen or fourteen when I wrote my first fanfiction and it just kind of grew from there.

Q: Have you ever deleted a story and you wish you could revisit it?

A: Of course! There was a story I wrote called 101 Ways to Annoy Your Parents and that was the story that really got me into writing and I deleted it because I didn't really update it but I wish I could revisit it and write it again.

Q: What story can we see you write next?

A: Well, I'm in the middle of writing She Dreamed of Paradise and when that's finished, I'll bring out a new story called Young Gods – hopefully. I'm very indecisive with stories. I write them for hours and then I just get bored and visit them like four months later.


	8. Anya Age Timeline

ANYA AGE TIMELINE

Kills mother, banished to Narnia - 12 years old

Arrives in Archenland, kills commander - 13 years old

Saves new commander's life, becomes hero - 14 years old

Becomes commander, restores peace to Archenland - 15 years old

Pevensies call upon her to help, meets Peter - 17 years old

Crowned queen of Archenland – 18 years old

Last battle of Narnia, goes to Aslan's Country - 19 years old

Wedding to Peter, re-crowned as queen of Archenland, first child is born - 20 years old

Last child is born, falls ill, almost dies - 29 years old

Crowns first born as ruler of Archenland, becomes regent - 46 years old

Dies in her sleep with Peter beside her - 80 years old


	9. Playlist

_**Playlist for Anya/Peter:**_

Shelter; Birdy

Run; Jasmine Thompson

Blue Jeans; Lana Del Rey

Just a Dream; Nelly

Vampire Smile; Kyla La Grange

Battlefield; Jordin Sparks

My Blood; Ellie Goulding

Crave; Tove Lo

Heart by Heart; Demi Lovato

A Thousand Years; Christina Perri

Dark Paradise; Lana Del Rey

Too Lost In You; Sugababes

Blue Blood; Laurel

* * *

 _ **Playlist for Anya**_

Castle; Halsey

Ready Or Not; Mischa Chillak

Smells Like Teen Spirit; Think Up Anger ft. Malia J

Take a Life With Me; Julia Dominczak and Tree Adams

Radioactive; Alexi Blue & Ava Allan and Imagine Dragons

Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up); Florence + The Machine

No Love; Eminem

Scream My Name; Tove Lo

Fighter; Christina Aguilera

Who Are You, Really?; Mikky Ekko

No Rest For the Wicked; Lykke Li

Gasoline; Halsey

Yellow Flicker Beat; Lorde

One Woman Army; Porcelain Black

Do It Like a Dude; Jessie J

Unstoppable; Sia


End file.
